


The Closest Thing to Love

by jennagrins



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: (sort of), Aged-Up Character(s), Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth Defeat, Gabriel Agreste's A+ Parenting, Good Friend Alya Césaire, Good Friend Nino Lahiffe, Good Parents Sabine Cheng & Tom Dupain, Happy Ending, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Marriage Proposal, Marriage of Convenience, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Parent-Child Relationship, Post-Reveal Pre-Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Post-Reveal Pre-Relationship, Romance, Slow Burn, TV Special: Miraculous World: New York, adrienette - Freeform, bed sharing, canon-typical child abuse, djwifi (background), there's only one bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:55:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 60,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27920086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jennagrins/pseuds/jennagrins
Summary: "Marinette, my lady, bugaboo, light of my life, will you marry me?"When Gabriel tells Adrien it’s time for him to learn about the brand internationally, Adrien knows he can’t leave Paris - or Marinette. The two concoct a plan to allow Adrien to stay and finally achieve his independence from his father. They’ll just get married.The only problem is...they’re not actually dating.But that won’t cause any issues. After all, they’re just friends, right?What could possibly go wrong?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 525
Kudos: 654





	1. Chapter 1

"Marinette, my lady, bugaboo, light of my life, will you marry me?"

Marinette looks down at Adrien where he kneels at the foot of the dress form she’s working on. She spits out the pins she was holding in her teeth and sticks them back into the pincushion at her wrist.

"That's not funny," she says flatly.

"I'm not joking," Adrien insists, trying to ignore the pang of hurt, even though he knows she has no reason to think he’s serious.

"Right." Marinette rolls her eyes and resumes pinning.

"I'm not!"

"You want to get married."

"Yes."

"To me."

"Sure," he says with affected ease because he can’t very well admit that he’s been dreaming of exactly that for years.

She sighs. “Get up,” she says, and he gets to his feet, feeling foolish. She turns away from her work, giving him her full attention and crossing her arms. "We’re fresh out of lycée, we’re not even dating, and you want to get married?? Adrien, what's going on?”

"It's my father," he tells her, swallowing uncomfortably.

Her face hardens instantly. "What did he do?"

"He doesn't want me to go to university. He wants me to continue modeling and learn the company better and...and he wants me to travel around the world to do it."

"You're leaving?" she asks in a small voice before gasping and grabbing at her hair. "But if you leave how will you be Chat Noir? This is a disaster! You'll have to give up your miraculous and then I'll have to choose a new Chat Noir and then you won't be my partner and we'll never see each other and the new Chat won't be experienced enough and I can’t even imagine being Ladybug without you and Hawkmoth will win and—"

"I'm not leaving!" he bursts in, grabbing her arms and cutting her off mid-rant. He curses inwardly. He knows better. He should've led with that. Gently, he disentangles her hands from her hair, and she allows him to lower them. “I’m not leaving,” he repeats as he gives her hands a squeeze. She squeezes back and he knows that she believes him. "I won't leave Paris—or you. Not with Hawkmoth still attacking. I told Father that I wanted to go to university and stay in Paris with my friends but..."

"He didn't care."

"He thinks I'm exhibiting poor decision-making by prioritizing staying with my friends over my future," he recites. Even though he's not sure the fashion world is his future. Modeling is fine and he's good at it, but he can't do it forever. And the business side of it doesn't appeal to him at all. But no one has ever asked what he wants and Father has never appreciated his desire to go to school. 

She gives his hands one last squeeze before letting go and going to sit down on her chaise. "You could just tell him no? You're eighteen now, Adrien."

"I'm still just a dumb kid to him,” he says, sitting down next to her.

Marinette's mouth twists unhappily. "But you’re an adult. He can't force you to leave if you don't want to."

"He can cut me off. How will I pay for school or food or a place to live?"

"What? Adrien, you've been modeling since you were a kid. You don't have _anything_ saved up?"

"Some money since I turned 18 but everything from before... I can't touch it," he explains, swallowing uncomfortably. "It's in a trust and inaccessible until I turn twenty-five. Father says it’s for my own good. To keep me from squandering it."

"That - that can't be legal."

"I don't know," he admits, "but what am I going to do? Sue my own father?"

He knows from many years of friendship that that particular expression means that she wants to do a lot more than sue Gabriel Agreste. The thought that she cares enough to be angry and protective on his behalf warms him as it always does.

"How does getting married fix this?" she asks instead of commenting. "Is he suddenly going to care about what you want because we got hitched?"

"Yeah, no." He huffs out a bitter laugh. "Actually I think he'll be really angry about it. Maybe enough to get akumatized again." Adrien pushes down the guilt that bubbles up at that thought. As much as he tries telling himself that it's not his responsibility to sacrifice himself to keep his father happy... old habits die hard. He clears his throat. "Maman's family… they're _old money_. Very old fashioned about it too. A husband should be able to take care of his wife, you know? When Grandmère passed, her bequests to her grandsons were set up as trusts that vest upon marriage."

"So your plan is to marry me, get your money, and tell your dad to suck it?"

"Pretty much."

"Not the worst plan you've had."

"So you'll do it?"

"Why me?" she asks, sidestepping his question.

"Because I trust you," he answers. It’s the truth, anyway, or at least most of it. And the last thing they need right now is his unrequited love complicating things. “Who else would I marry? Who else would even understand why it’s so important that I stay? And besides there’ll be advantages to you too! I’d pay for our housing and living expenses and - and I’ll give you a payout when this is done.”

She sighs. “I don’t want your money, Adrien.”

His heart drops. “You won’t do it.”

“I didn’t say that. This is a lot, okay? I’m trying to figure it out. But you know it’s you and me against the world, right?”

“Always,” he agrees.

"What other options have you looked into?"

"What do you mean?"

"Adrien! Don't tell me that getting married was the first _and only_ idea you considered? What about taking out a loan or - or moving in with Nino or, I don't know, getting a job??"

Embarrassment burns his cheeks, but he’s not willing to admit that once it had occurred to him, he’d thought it was so perfect that he’d raced over here without considering anything else.

Besides...

"My contract with Gabriel still has another three years in it. It's pretty draconian with the non-compete." He draws idle circles with his finger in the fabric of her chaise.

"Were you even an adult when you signed?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes! This sounds very, very illegal!"

"I don't want to end up in a legal battle with my father. I don't want to keep doing what he tells me to but I don't want to publicly fight with him either."

She sighs. "What about working in a different field? Waiting tables or something like that?"

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly and she glares.

"You think he'd sue you for that?"

"Maybe."

"Kitty, that's ridiculous."

He shrugs helplessly. It's not like he doesn't know his father is over the top. Ever since Maman disappeared...and of course after Nathalie... Adrien knows his father is just afraid of losing him too and he's tried so hard to be supportive. But he can't live like this forever and now... his father is forcing his hand. No matter how much he loves him or how understanding he wants to be, he can't leave Marinette to fight on her own. 

( _Or leave her at all_ , the little part of him he keeps pushing down whispers.)

(He pushes it down again.)

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay, let's get married," she says and he doesn't try to suppress the smile that breaks across his face. Marinette's just agreed to marry him! It won't be real and she doesn't feel the same way about him that he feels about her but she does love him.

"Now if we're doing this, we need a plan."

"You know I always leave the planning to you, my lady."

She rolls her eyes. "As you should. Okay..." she trails off, clearly thinking as her face scrunches up in what Adrien has always thought of as her Lucky Charm FaceTM. It's one of his favourite sights in the world and he can feel himself relaxing as he looks at her. If it's one of Marinette's plans, he knows they're going to be fine. 

After all, when have any of her plans not worked out?

She meets his eyes. "Anything I need to know before I plan this out?"

 _I'm in love with you._

"No."

* * *

Marinette has been dreaming of marrying Adrien since she was thirteen years old. She’s imagined his proposal countless times. Sometimes she imagines they’ve been dating for years first. Sometimes it is part of a love confession. She’s fantasized different places, different words. Heck, she’s even imagined being the one to do the asking! 

But somehow, in all of her many imaginings, she’d never thought to imagine him asking her out of necessity.

A marriage of convenience.

Not even. A sham marriage. A fraud.

She gives herself a moment to feel her disappointment, and then turns her mind to the problem at hand. No matter what she might wish, if her kitty needs her, she’s there, period.

They need a plan. Something that will be so believable that no one will question it. They don’t want anyone looking too closely at their marriage. Especially not Mr. Agreste. She’s not quite sure about how all the legalities of this thing work, but she’s sure he will cause as much trouble for them as he can.

What happens if you’re caught in a fake marriage just so that you can access trust funds early?

She’d rather not find out.

So. How to convince the world (and Gabriel Agreste) that she and Adrien are actually crazy enough to go from just friends to married-at-18?

Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Her plan coalesces in her mind quickly. 

"I think we can believably get engaged in a couple months and get married at the end of the summer," Marinette tells him.

"That fast?" 

“Well you’ll need access to funds sooner rather than later, right? I’m not sure at what point exactly your father will cut you off, but we’ll need to use our own money entirely after that. And there’s going to be food and rent and tuition, plus probably stuff I haven’t even thought of. So we probably want to be married before school starts, which means we need to set it up so things move quickly, which means a whirlwind romance swept up by our feelings type of deal. I think it works, I don’t see how we can get away with any sooner and while we could elope I think the people who know us best will think that’s a little out of character for us. I’ve...kind of had big wedding dreams for the longest time and my parents and Alya know that, so while we can streamline to do it up quick I think cutting the wedding entirely is too suspicious. I guess we can probably do it faster if you really don’t want to do a wedding at all but then—"

“No, that’s not it!” he says, cutting off her embarrassing rambling. He does not need to hear her thoughts on weddings right now! “Whatever you think is best.”

She bites her lip as another thought occurs to her. “Do you have enough money to get by until then, if he cuts you off sooner? The wedding’ll be right before school starts and I’m not sure how long it’ll take after that…”

“I’ll be okay.”

"We'll need to tell everyone that we're dating. And we'll want to be very public about the whole thing. I think it will be harder for anyone to undermine our relationship if everyone knows about it."

"That part won't be hard with my fanbase at least. What will we tell our friends?"

"Same thing as everyone else."

"You think we should lie to our friends?"

She bites her lip. "I don't like it but telling anyone else the truth will complicate things. They might even let something slip. We can't take the risk of being exposed. This won't work if your dad finds out our marriage is a sham."

"Even Nino and Alya?"

"Yeah, even them. Even my parents." Her mouth twists. "I don't like it anymore than you do but we're kind of committing fraud here."

"What's one more secret?" he sighs. "But we've been friends for years. Do you really think people will believe you suddenly succumbed to my dashing good looks after all this time?" He finishes with a flirtatious waggle of his eyebrows. 

"No," she snorts. If it was just that Adrien was handsome she wouldn’t be stuck on him so helplessly. The words start spilling out before she can stop them. "If - if I fell for you, it would be because… because of the way you are. The way you make me laugh. How supportive you are. How - how kind." He looks at her with wide eyes and she realizes she's being a little too honest. "Right, so that's my answer for the inevitable interview now that I'm marrying a celebrity," she attempts to tease with an awkward laugh. The distraction seems to work because he chuckles a little. "We'll tell people that I've been secretly in love with you all this time and I was afraid to tell you because I didn't want to ruin our friendship but… when you told me you were leaving… I couldn't pretend anymore. I had to tell you how I felt."

It hurts to have her confession out in the open like this, only wrapped up as a lie, nothing more than a cover to sell their eventual marriage.

"And I… I was so happy because I'm in love with you. Too," he says.

 _I’m in love with you_.

She used to hear those words from him all the time. She used to hate his confessions, pained at having to turn him down again.

She used to hate those words because he meant them. 

Now she hates them because he doesn’t.

Not the way she wants him to mean them at least.

"And," she says after a too-long pause, "once we'd admitted how we felt it only makes sense that we wouldn't want to waste any more time."

"And after we'd confessed there's no way I'd leave."

"Right."

"Right."

* * *

It turns out that when Marinette said they wouldn't waste any more time, she meant that they should get started today. It makes sense with the ambitious timeline to get them married she’s proposed. He just wishes he’d had a little time to mentally prepare.

 _Idiot. What did you think would happen once you asked her?_

But then, he hadn’t really expected that she’d ever agree to this.

Adrien's heart beats rapidly in his chest as he holds the picnic basket in one hand and Marinette's hand in the other as they make their way to a nearby park. 

“From this moment on, we act as though we just confessed to each other in my room just now. If we’re out in public, we’re acting like a couple, okay? We can’t afford to get caught,” she’d told him before they left, and he’d agreed.

She chooses the spot and directs him to help her spread the blanket. They sit close together and she offers him a pastry and as sweet as the setup is, it feels more like they're on patrol than on their first (fake) date. 

He chews his cherry danish and eyes the picnic basket where their kwamis are hidden out of sight, enjoying the cheese and cookies Marinette packed for them. Tikki hadn't approved exactly when Marinette had filled her in, but had ultimately agreed that they had to do whatever it took to keep Adrien in Paris. Plagg thinks Adrien's an idiot but that's nothing new. He probably is an idiot to be pulling such a ridiculous stunt when she doesn't know how he feels about her. 

If she knew, would she be upset? Would she feel like he tricked her?

The thought sits uncomfortably in his stomach. 

"We don't have to do this," Marinette interrupts his thoughts quietly. 

"What?"

"You're so tense. If you changed your mind—"

"No. Just… thinking things over."

"Thinking about how you're going to tell your father?" she asks. 

"No. I don't want to think about that right now."

She tuts sympathetically. "It's going to be okay, Adrien. This will work."

“Of course it will,” he agrees, smiling softly at her.

“Okay, Mr Model. I know you know how to create a social media stir. So let’s do this.”

“Well…”

When Marinette had first mentioned making their “relationship” public, he’d thought they would just post a cute picture with an announcement that she was his girlfriend and be done with it. But if she really wants to get everyone’s attention… Who can resist a mystery?

“Come on. I set the scene with this little picnic, didn’t I?”

“Perfect romantic backdrop, bug,” he assures her. “Come here.”

At his urging, she comes closer and nestles into his side as he wraps his arm around her. He holds his phone out and snaps a few selfies.

Her eyes light up when she sees the pictures.

“It’s a good start, but I think we can improve it.”

She pulls out a couple pastries and arranges them on the blanket in front of them in the shape of a heart, then squeezes back into his side and laces the fingers of their right hands together. She uses her left hand to take a couple new pictures from above, then shows them to him.

“Perfect,” he breathes. 

The picture is cropped, showing their bodies snuggled together, framed by the colourful blanket, the heart of treats at the top of the frame. Only the bottom halves of their faces are visible.

 _Enjoying some sweets with my sweetie!_ he captions it before posting.

Marinette just rolls her eyes but doesn’t comment on his word play. “How long should we wait to reveal me?”

“If we drag it out a couple days, it will be a bigger story. We could do another date the day after tomorrow and do a follow up post then?”

“Works for me,” she says. “Hopefully none of your fangirls get akumatized over this.”

He hopes not either.

“Nothing we can’t handle.”

He expects her to move away now that the picture is done, but she doesn’t. He spends the next several minutes staying as still as he can, afraid that any slight movement on his part will remind her that she’s cuddled up with him and then she’ll move away, before he remembers that this is something they’re doing now.

He relaxes and they continue to chat aimlessly.

Even if it isn’t real, it’s nice.

It’s really, really nice.

* * *

It’s not until Adrien’s left and Marinette is back in her room that she sees the text from Alya.

`**Alya**`  
`_19:32_` `adrien has a new gf did u see???`  
`_19:32_` `weird he dint tell us`

It’s one thing to drag this out for the general public, but it doesn’t feel right not to tell her best friend. 

(Well, none of this feels right since it’s all a lie. But she wants to tell Alya what she can.)

“Are you going to be okay, Marinette?” Tikki interrupts her train of thought.

She hates the concern in her kwami’s voice, although she can’t deny that it’s justified.

“It’s fine,” she says. “Keeping Adrien in Paris is the most important thing.”

“I think you should tell him the truth.”

She sighs. It’s an old argument. 

Marinette doesn’t want to argue with Tikki right now though, so instead of responding to her, she texts Alya back.

`**me**`  
`_21:04_` `yeah....i know`  
`_21:04_` `it's me`  
`_21:05_` `surprise?`

As expected, her phone starts ringing a half second later.

“Marinette!” Alya’s stern face fills her screen. “Are you trying to tell me my ship sailed and YOU DIDN’T TELL ME???”

“Hello to you too, Alya,” she says wryly.

“Girl, don’t even start. Details. Now.”

“Um, so you know how I told you I was over him?”

“You’re a lying liar who lies?”

“Just a little bit...maybe.”

"I knew it! I _knew_ you were still in love with him!"

Marinette laughs awkwardly. What’s she supposed to say to that? She tried so hard, but of course her best friend had seen through her.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Alya continues.

“It’s still really new,” she says with a little shrug. “We only just confessed a few hours ago.”

“Give me the deets. I want to know _everything_!”

So Marinette tells her the made-up-but-a-little-too-close-to-the-truth story about how Adrien had told her that Mr Agreste was trying to make him leave Paris and how the thought of losing him was too upsetting for her to keep her feelings to herself anymore.

“So you’ve both been in love with each other all this time? Oh my god, Marinette. That’s so romantic, but also kind of sad.”

“Sad?” she echoes. She knows why she’s sad about the whole thing, but why would Alya, who doesn’t know this isn’t real, think it’s sad?

“Come on, you’ve both been pining away for _years_ when you didn’t have to be?” Alya raises her eyebrows on screen. “If you’d just told each other you could’ve been together all this time!”

She can see Tikki giving her a meaningful look from across the room. She turns to face the other way so she doesn’t have to see her.

“I guess…but we can’t change the past, right? So there’s no sense being sad about it. What matters is that we’re together now.”

“Mhmm and you know what this means: double date! I’m so excited.”

"Alya, we get lunch the four of us all the time."

"Yes but before it was me and Nino, and our two third-wheel best friends. Now it’s a double date!”

* * *

Adrien shouldn’t be surprised to arrive home to find his father waiting for him at the top of the entryway stairs.

It’s not that his father never pays attention to him. He actually pays very close attention to Adrien’s public image. Or at least pays people to pay very close attention to Adrien's public image on his behalf. 

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that, after Adrien publicly announced his new relationship, his father decided to grace him with his presence.

(It’s not, really.)

(Anais must have told him.)

“Good evening, Father.”

“Adrien.”

They stand there, staring at each other for several seconds. When it’s clear his father isn’t going to say anything, Adrien determines not to play his father’s game. He’s not going to shrink and wilt and offer what his father wants just because he stares him down from up above.

“Well, good night, Father,” he says.

Of course, before he’s finished taking his first step towards his bedroom his Father bites.

“You’ve started a new relationship.”

Adrien stops and faces his father. “I have.”

“Do you believe that’s wise?”

“What do you mean?”

(He knows what his father means.)

“You’re leaving soon.”

“I thought I was clear that I intended to stay in Paris.”

“And I thought I was clear that the company needs you to become familiar with the brand on an international scale.”

“Surely that can wait until I’ve finished university.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Adrien,” his father says, and Adrien suppresses the automatic flinch at those words. They’re calculated to hurt and they don’t miss their mark. But he is not responsible for making his father happy and Adrien won’t sacrifice what’s important to him to the impossible task of making his father proud. “I thought you understood the breadth of the work before you and how critical it is that you begin familiarizing yourself with it immediately.”

He swallows. “I’m sure I can be a much greater asset to the company once I complete my education.”

“Ah yes. I’m sure your engineering degree will be very helpful to learning to manage a design label.”

Adrien flushes. He hadn’t realized his father was aware of the programs he had applied to. Which is stupid, really. Since when had he deluded himself into thinking he has any privacy in this house?

When he doesn’t say anything for several moments, his father sighs. “Who is the girl then?”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Hm.” His father turns back to his office, and Adrien allows himself to relax fractionally. But as he begins walking towards his bedroom his father’s voice calls out to him again: “Enjoy your time with Mlle Dupain-Cheng, Adrien. But I expect you in London in three weeks.”

His father’s office door closes before Adrien can respond.

Typical.

He makes his way to his room, then shuts the door behind him with a sigh.

Plagg flies out of his shirt once they’re safely alone and gives him a sympathetic look.

“You sure you don’t want me to cataclysm him in the face, kid?”

He sighs. “It’s okay, Plagg. He can’t make me go. That’s why we’re doing this."

"I thought you didn’t have to leave until the end of summer.”

“He must have pushed it up. It’s because he’s mad at me.” He frowns. “I’ll have to tell Marinette.”

“Offer’s still on the table.”

He lays back on his bed while Plagg flies off in search of cheese, idly checking his phone.

`**Marinette**`  
`_21:15_` `i told alya`  
`_21:16_` `she wants a double date`  
`_21:16_` `i said ok`

`**me**`  
`_21:47_` `ok`  
`_21:48_` `i told my father`  
`_21:49_` `he told me he expects me in london in 3 wks`

`**Marinette**`  
`_21:54_` `oh kitty`  
`_21:54_` `dont worry we're gonna keep you here`

`**me**`  
`_21:55_` `i know`  
`_21:55_` `im just stressing about it`  
`_21:55_` `but its fine`

`**Marinette**`  
`_21:56_` `it IS gonna be fine`  
`_21:56_` `promise`  
`_21:57_` `we'll just bump things up a little`

`**me**`  
`_21:57_` `youre not worried its too fast already?`

`**Marinette**`  
`_21:58_` `i got a plan`  
`_21:58_` `trust me`

`**me**`  
`_21:59_` `you know i do`

* * *

“It’s real! It’s really real! You’re together!” Alya squeals when they walk into the ice cream parlour hand in hand. Neither couple had felt like trying to track down André today.

“You’re acting like I didn’t tell you this already,” Marinette laughs.

Alya tackles them both into a hug, smooching them both on their cheeks. “I’m allowed to be happy about this.”

“Of course you are,” Adrien agrees as he and Nino do their secret bro handshake. "I am.”

“We both are,” Marinette agrees, smiling brightly.

“I’m happy for you too,” Nino says. His soft smile warms Adrien. 

“Thanks, man.”

The two couples buy their ice cream and settle around a high round table.

“So lovebirds,” Alya drawls, eyes lit up with curiosity, and Adrien realizes that his spot between Marinette and Nino puts him directly opposite Alya. Is his seat warm?

“Alyaaaa,” Marinette whines.

“Girl, don’t even. I have waited literal years for this!”

“I already told you everything on the phone.”

“Sure, you did, but we haven’t heard Adrien’s side of things yet.”

Adrien swallows. “I told Nino.”

Alya waves a dismissive hand. “Oh please. That boy doesn’t know how to grill anyone.”

“Why do we need to be grilled?”

“Because you’re my best friends and I’ve been waiting for years and I need to know everything, obviously,” Alya says completely unapologetically.

“Well, I mean, you can ask,” Adrien says in as casual a voice as he can. He’s pretty sure Alya can smell fear. “But I’m pretty sure certain things are going to stay between me and Marinette.”

“We’ll see about that,” she chirps. “But seriously, I'm so happy you two finally bought a clue. It's been downright painful watching you two dance around each other for years, pining away."

Adrien raises a curious eyebrow. "I thought I did a pretty good job hiding it," he says.

Alya snorts. 

"Bro, come on. We're your best friends. You can't hide that stuff from us," Nino says fondly, looking at him like he's a rather dim child.

"Mhmm," Alya agrees, smirking. "For two smart people it sure took you long enough to figure it out."

Adrien's breath catches in his throat, and he keeps his amused smile on his face only through years of practice. Alya is Marinette's best friend. If she thinks they've been in love with each other... Has he somehow finally succeeded in making his lady fall for him?

"Oh?" he asks, and his voice betrays none of his inner turmoil. "And just how long have you been convinced we're in love with each other?"

"Since collège," she answers with a roll of her eyes. 

Oh. Disappointment curls in his belly. Alya’s mistaken. He knows Marinette didn't have feelings for him then. She told him so on both sides of the mask before their big reveal. Still, he can see how Alya thought so. He had misconstrued some of the things she said and did then too.

"You got us," Marinette says, curling her hand around his arm and laughing awkwardly. "But forget all that now!"

Adrien lets go of his disappointment. He should have known better than to get his hopes up anyway. But they can use this. If even their best friends believe they're in love then no one else will doubt it. 

"Mm," he agrees, turning to give Marinette one of his softest smiles. He pulls his arm free from her grasp so he can take her hand instead. "We can't do anything about the time we missed, but we fully intend to make up for lost time." He punctuates his declaration with a kiss to her fingers. 

Marinette blushes. She's better at this than he thought. 

"Oh no," Nino laughs, "you're going to be one of _those_ couples, aren't you?"

"Like there was ever any doubt of that!" Adrien grins.

“I’m warning you, Agreste. My girl is a total romantic. You better spoil her.”

“Babe, come on,” Nino says, before Adrien can respond. “Adrien’s, like, the sappiest sap ever. I’ll bet he’s already planning candlelit dinners and romantic gestures with roses and pretty speeches about her eyes in the moonlight or some sappy shit like that.”

“Dude,” Adrien says, blushing. “You really gonna call me out like this?”

“You’re right, I don’t know what I was thinking. They’re made for each other,” Alya says. She turns to Marinette with a wicked grin. “So, Marinette—”

“Nope.” Marinette throws a finger in Alya’s face. “I know that look. Don’t you dare embarrass me right now.”

“Aw, come on! You’re together. Surely, I can—”

“No. It’s still too new for whatever you’re planning on sharing.”

He shouldn’t. He knows he shouldn’t. But damn if that doesn’t rouse his curiosity like nothing else.

“Oh?”

“Don’t even think about it, Agreste.”

“Aw, come on, princess,” he teases.

“Anyway! I think we should take that picture for your instagram before our ice cream gets any more melted, don’t you?”

Adrien looks at the forgotten ice cream in his hand. It’s only slightly melted thanks to the high air conditioning, but Marinette has a point.

He lets the subject drop.

“Ooh, this your big reveal to Adrien’s adoring fans?” Alya asks.

“Yeah.”

“Want me to take the pic? You know I know your best angles, M.”

“What about my best angles?” Adrien teases.

Marinette knocks her shoulder into his playfully. “I think someone’s fishing for compliments.”

“Mayyybeeee,” he responds, leaning his face into hers until their foreheads are almost touching.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, Adrien. Your face, it’s so...radiant...dreamy...one might even say...carefree.”

“Marinettttttte,” he whines while she snickers, feeling unreasonably put out. He knows he’s handsome. He’s paid to be handsome.

She giggles. “Come on, hot stuff. Put that pretty face to good use.”

* * *

Their newest social media post (dorkingly captioned “ _I melt for this sweet girl. I love her a waffle lot!_ ”) finds all the biggest gossip sites posting about them.

> **_ON AGAIN: ADRIEN AGRESTE AND PAJAMA GIRL!_ **

> **_AGRESTE JR & PAJAMA GIRL BACK TOGETHER_ **

> **_RADIANT, DREAMY & OFF THE MARKET! ADRIEN REKINDLES ROMANCE WITH PAJAMA GIRL_ **

“Well, you got your wish, we made headlines,” Adrien says.

Marinette groans. “They’re _still_ calling me pajama girl?”

“They were really cute pajamas.”

“Don’t you even start.”

* * *

“...and that’s why dolphins are actually jerks and don’t deserve their reputation as everyone’s cute aquatic friends,” he finishes.

Marinette giggles. “You’re such a dork. Also, I don’t know if I can forgive you for ruining dolphins for me.”

The walk by the Seine makes for a lovely date, even if it's not all that different from the time they would spend together before they started this charade. 

But the weight of Marinette's hand in his is new. 

Adrien likes it.

“Aw, come on,” he says as Marinette leads him by the hand over a bridge and he follows, absently appreciating the view of the water and the sun on his skin. “It’s not like I ruined your favourite animal.”

“It’s true, but that’s because there’s nothing you can say against hamsters.”

He gasps. “Hamsters? Really?”

(Actually he loves the idea of getting a hamster, but obviously cats are supposed to be her favourite animal!)

“No hamster ever told me terrible facts about other animals.” She pauses and leans back against the rail, tugging him close to her and smiling up at him invitingly. He smiles back helplessly. “But maybe you can make it up to me.”

Adrien's breath catches in his throat, and all of his good humour evaporates. 

She is so, so beautiful. 

"Miss me. I mean kiss. We should kiss," she says, blushing. 

He blinks down at her. Is she serious? He knows better than to read too much into anything Marinette says when she gets flustered like this.

When he fails to react quickly enough, she gives a little shrug, then pushes up on her toes and presses her mouth to his. 

Adrien melts. 

Her lips are soft and warm against his, making his mouth tingle with pleasure that spreads throughout his body. Then her lips part and slide against his, and the kiss is a little wetter and a lot tinglier and he can't help the little noise he makes as he kisses her back.

The kiss ends way too soon for his liking when Marinette pulls back and looks up at him with her sparkling eyes. 

"Way to sell it, kitty," she says, poking his nose. 

He melts further. 

She pulls him along to continue their walk and he follows her on shaky legs, still dazed by her kiss. 

Her mouth pulls into a smirk as she tosses him a little sideways glance then looks over to the far side of the bridge where Adrien sees a man with a camera. "I'm pretty sure they got their shot."

It clicks. 

He smiles back at her even as disappointment twists his gut. 

Right, they're pretending. He knew that. It's fine. He's fine.

(He's not fine.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I would love to hear what you think so far! I've written about 75% of this, so hopefully it won't be too long between updates. I'm predicting 7-8 chapters :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter: Gabriel continues to be the worst. Nino and Alya continue to be the best. And Adrien and Marinette continue to be idiots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been blown away by the positive response to this fic! Thank you all so much for all of your kind comments, kudos, reblogs and subscriptions. I honestly thought it was going to take me longer to get this chapter finished (I write non-linearly and this chapter had quite a few scenes that still needed to be written), but the amazing support had me crazy motivated. I hope you enjoy!

_After Hawkmoth had taken Master Fu's tablet with the translated grimoire, things got a lot harder._

_Not only was her mentor gone, not only were all of their reserve heroes exposed, not only did she have even more responsibility, but their enemy had become even more powerful. Hawkmoth had combined the butterfly and peacock miraculouses, and he was relentless in his attacks._

_Added onto all of this, Adrien was dating Kagami, and Marinette was trying desperately to get over him._

_She was failing miserably._

_With her superhero and personal lives in shambles, she was completely overwhelmed._

_And Hawkmoth clearly knew it, judging by the number of akumas he sent her way, both in and out of the suit._

_She could see how worried Chat Noir was, but she kept brushing off his concerns..._

_Until she couldn't anymore._

_"Ladybug, behind you!"_

_His panicked voice had her yoyo flying before she'd even consciously registered his words, barely snatching the akuma flying towards her in time._

_She gasped, hand still gripping her yoyo with the akuma inside._

_"Ladybug?" he questioned, rushing over to her and holding her by the shoulders._

_"I'm_ _..._ _"_

_"Please don't say you're fine. I know you're not," he begged. “Please, Ladybug. I care about you.”_

_She wiped at her eyes as the sincere concern in his voice shredded her defences. She couldn’t pretend to be unaffected when he showed her that genuine side of him, and she knew he would comfort her_ —wanted _to comfort her_ — _if she’d only let him._

_It wouldn’t hurt to confide in him just a little, right?_

_"I_ — _" she began, but it was interrupted by the beeping of their miraculous. She took a deep breath. "Recharge and meet me?"_

_"Of course."_

* * *

As soon as dinner is finished, Marinette slips up into her room and flops backwards onto her bed.

“They’re the worst,” she groans.

“Your parents are happy for you,” Tikki says, floating in front of her face. “I think it’s sweet.”

“They ask so many questions!” She does her best impression of her parents, “‘How are things going with Adrien?’ and ‘Is The Boyfriend treating you well?” and ‘Why don’t you invite him for a family meal?’ and then they look at each other like they’re amused by it all or something afterwards,” she complains, pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes.

“It’s just because they care,” Tikki says reasonably. “Besides, you wouldn’t mind so much if you were dating Adrien for real.”

Marinette doesn’t deny it.

She’s never going to be comfortable telling her parents everything, but it definitely stings to have to pretend to have what she wants.

She can’t even say she didn’t know this part was going to suck. But what choice does she have?

“You could tell him how you feel.”

Marinette groans. She didn’t mean to ask that out loud. Of course Tikki starts up with this again.

“I can’t do that, Tikki!” She sits up on her bed. “We’ve talked about this a hundred times. You know he doesn’t feel that way about me anymore.”

“Even if he doesn’t, don’t you think it will be better for him to know?”

“No, definitely not! It would be awful.”

Tikki tilts her giant head. “Come on, Marinette. This is Adrien. Do you really think he’d be unkind, even if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

“Of course not,” she says, pulling her giant cat pillow into her lap and wrapping her arms and legs around it. “He would never do that. But I don’t want him to feel bad or pity me or - or feel like he _has_ to make himself love me too.” 

“I think you should have more faith in him than that,” her kwami says, ignoring her glare. Of course she has faith in Adrien! Adrien is her person, the one she relies on, who keeps her from falling apart when it all gets to be too much. But she knows him. He cares so much about everyone’s feelings, and he always puts her first.

The thought of Adrien trying to force himself to be in love with her when she knows he doesn’t see her that way… She feels sick just thinking about it.

She can’t put him in that position.

She loves him too much for that.

* * *

Adrien stares dejectedly down the length of the dining table as he finishes his meal. 

At this point, it’s clear his father isn’t coming.

He, unfortunately, has years of experience being stood up by his father. It’s been a couple of years since he started eating more in his room, but usually Father shows up to at least one of their three scheduled dinners per week.

This is the fourth missed dinner in a row.

He knows his father is upset about his relationship with Marinette, and particularly upset about how public it’s all been.

This is Father’s way of showing it.

Even though he expected this, it still hurts.

For as much as Adrien tries to excuse the inordinate amount of control that his father exercises over his life because he knows his father is just afraid of losing him like he’s lost his mother and Nathalie…

It really doesn’t _feel_ like he cares when he abandons Adrien like this.

It’s bad enough that he’s planning on sending him _out of the country_ with no fixed return date...but apparently his father doesn’t even care to see him before he leaves.

He deliberately places his fork and knife on his plate, removes his napkin from his lap, and stands up. 

He won’t show how much his father is hurting him.

He’s marrying Marinette and moving out and staying in Paris and going to university.

And nothing his father does is going to change that.

* * *

“He doesn’t feel that way about me,” Marinette insists. Why is Tikki pushing this so hard? Doesn’t she understand how much it hurts her?

“Neither of us knows how Adrien feels because he hasn’t told us."

"Exactly. He hasn't said anything because he's not in love with me! This is Adrien. He's always honest about his feelings. If he was in love with me, he would've said something!" 

"I still think you should talk to him, but if you won’t—” Marinette shakes her head firmly and Tikki continues “—then maybe this is your opportunity to remind him why he fell for you the first time around. And if he’s not in love with you anymore, maybe he’ll fall in love with you again.”

“I don’t even know why he loved me in the first place. I was so focused on Adrien that I never even wondered about why Chat Noir fell for Ladybug.” She tugs at her hair, feeling the sting of that missed opportunity once again. “And anyway, Tikki, I don’t think people fall back in love outside of movies and books.”

“I don’t think love is nearly as clear-cut as you’re making it out to be.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re friends now. Really, really good friends. And this is working. It’s enough.”

“But what if it could be more?”

Marinette’s phone signals an incoming text and she’s grateful for the reprieve from Tikki’s incessant pushing.

`**Adrien**`  
`_20:42_` `are you free rn?`

`**me**`  
`_20:46_` `yeah`  
`_20:47_` `do you wanna come over?`  
`_20:47_` `or were you wanting to go out?`

`**Adrien**`  
`_20:48_` `dont really feel like going out tonite`  
`_20:48_` `is that ok?`

`**me**`  
`_21:55_` `of course`  
`_21:55_` `movie at my place?`

`**Adrien**`  
`_21:56_` `perfect`

“Adrien’s coming over,” she tells Tikki. “Don’t try to hint at anything while he’s here.”

“I would never!” Tikki exclaims, affronted. “You know I just want you to be happy, right, Marinette? But I would never betray your confidence.”

She sighs. “I know, Tikki. I’m sorry. I guess I’m just sensitive about this.”

Tikki gives her a sympathetic look, but thankfully refrains from further comment.

* * *

"We don’t have a lot of time before you're supposed to leave. We should probably start looking at apartments now rather than waiting until after the proposal."

Adrien looks up at Marinette in surprise. They’re laying side by side in her bed, watching a movie on her tablet, on one of their “dates”. It doesn’t feel any different than their pre-fake relationship hangouts, but that’s probably because there’s no reason to kiss without an audience.

(It’s a shame. He really, really likes kissing Marinette.)

"What?"

She pauses the movie.

“I’m worried that if you don’t go to London, your father will kick you out,” she murmurs, looking at him with (big, beautiful) concerned eyes.

“Oh.” He’s been trying not to think about what his father will do as things progress and Adrien cooperates less but… “Yeah. He - he might do that.”

“And I mean we’d find somewhere for you to stay of course, whether that’s here with me because there’s no way my parents would turn you away or with Nino though I mean the Lahiffe’s don’t have a ton of space but you know he would want to help but it would be hard if you had to do it for a long time and—” Marinette cuts herself off abruptly rubbing her face with her hands. “Sorry. I just - I know this is hard for you. I don’t want it to be any harder than it has to be.”

He smiles. What did he ever do to deserve her?

“Let’s go back to the start,” he suggests. “You think we should get an apartment?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I know some couples still wait until they’re married to live together, but that doesn’t really fit our narrative. Plus this gets you out of there sooner.”

“Oh,” he breathes. They’re going to live together. “We’re going to live together.”

“Silly kitty,” she laughs. “Of course we are. What did you think, we’d get married and then I’d keep living at home? Real convincing marriage there.”

He laughs too. “I don’t know what I thought. I guess I never really thought that far ahead.”

Her smile softens. Marinette leans into his side and rests her head on his shoulder.

“You okay with having me for a roommate?” she asks.

"I'll see you every day," he says, smiling helplessly. “It’s more than okay.”

Getting married is the greatest idea he ever had. 

"You see me every day now," she teases, giggling into his shoulder. "But now you're going to be stuck with my bedhead and morning breath."

Marinette first thing in the morning. 

Marinette last thing at night.

Just... _Marinette_.

Breathe. 

_Breathe_. 

"Well when you put it like that," he chokes out. He wants that. Wants all of her intimate, unscripted, unpolished little moments. Wants every part of her she'll let him have. 

She leans back to look up at him with a teasing smile, and wags a finger dramatically in his face. "Hey, I know everyone thinks you're perfect but you haven't fooled me. I bet you wake up with crazy hair and drool all over your pillow."

Teasing. Right. He can do this. 

He pushes down all of his longing and covers it up with a flirtatious smile.

"What are you talking about, my lady? I roll out of bed looking this good."

She pushes her hand in his face so he misses the face she makes to go with the dismissive puff of air she looses. He bats her hand away and keeps a teasing grin on his face, careful not to let the sting of her dismissal show on his face. 

He knows he's attractive. What does it matter if Marinette isn’t attracted to him? 

(It matters.)

(He pushes it down.)

“So, apartments?” he directs the conversation back on track.

“Mm, right. We probably want to start by figuring out our budget and what our must-haves are, then maybe think about neighborhoods."

"Budget?"

"Ha, not a concept you ever thought you'd have to deal with, right?"

He shrugs, a little embarrassed. “I don’t really have an idea of what’s reasonable.”

“Oh, that’s fair. I didn’t really either until I started browsing listings, to be honest. I mean my plan was to just live at home and commute—” Adrien feels that same guilty pang at how he’s disrupting her life again, but before he can say anything she continues “—but a place closer to the university would certainly be easier.”

“I guess we have our first item on the must-have list,” he says.

He wants her to have everything on her list. She’s giving up so much to help him when the problem is all because of _his_ father. He needs to make this worthwhile for her.

“Okay, hang on.” She climbs out of the bed and Adrien turns off the tablet and tucks it safely away. He’s pretty sure they’re finished with their movie for the night. She returns shortly with a pink and white polka dotted notebook and a pen. She sits down on the bed facing him instead of snuggled up against his side. He suppresses his disappointment. “If we’re making the list, we’re going to need these.”

“Oh, good idea.”

“So we’ll obviously need a certain amount of privacy and some kind of balcony or rooftop access for akuma reasons,” she says, jotting down _‘outdoor access_ ’ in a loopy print/cursive mix. “Anything else?”

“That’s the important stuff to me. Honestly, Marinette, I’ll be happy with anything. Whatever you want.”

“What about bathrooms or amenities or windows or ceiling height?”

“Whatever you want,” he repeats.

“Oh. Okay.” She sounds a little surprised. “Maybe we should figure out finances instead then, since that’s something that we’ll need to figure out anyway. Sorry, I know it's kind of an awkward thing to talk about, but we'll need all this for the pre-nup anyway."

"Pre-nup?" he echoes dumbly.

"I mean, I just assumed we’d have one? To make the divorce easier. I mean - not that I would go after your money! I don't want to - to take advantage of the situation or anything. I mean, heh, this isn't real, I don't, like, feel entitled to your money. It will all still be yours! But it's safer for you if we have it written out, you know?"

"I'm not worried about that. I trust you with my life and you're the one doing me a favour. I don't want to leave you with nothing!"

“It’s your money, Adrien.”

“Which you’re helping me to get.”

“That doesn’t make it mine. And this protects you.”

He rolls his eyes. “From you?” he scoffs. “Please. Besides, then we’d need to get lawyers involved and what if it came out and cast doubt on us being crazy swept away by our feelings?”

She bites her lip and he knows he’s scored a point.

“I just don’t want to leave you vulnerable.”

“And I said I trust you. Trust me?”

She gives a little tight nod. "Okay, finances. You said you had some money saved?"

He nods. "Yeah, it's not a lot. Just what I've made since turning eighteen and the money stopped being paid into trust."

"I have a little saved away too. I'd rather we find a place based on what we have now because we don't know how long it will take to get access to the trust, right? And we'll need to put a deposit down right away."

"That makes sense."

"Okay," she says. Her cheeks go pink. "How much?"

He tells her. 

"What? Adrien! That's like three times what I have saved and _I've been saving a lot longer than you_!" She tugs at her bangs. "You don't even need to get married."

"Please. It's not enough to live off of."

"It is if you keep modeling!"

"I know that," he says slowly. "You know who else knows that? My father. Which means I probably won't get many bookings—if I get any at all—after I move out."

"Oh," she breathes. "Of course. I was only thinking about him supporting you as your father, but he's your employer too. Of course he'll use this to control you. Of course he'll stop booking you if you need the money so you can afford to live independently from him. Then you'll have no choice but to do what he wants."

His chest gets hot and tight. It sounds so much worse when she puts it bluntly like that.

"My father already lost Maman and Nathalie. He's just afraid to lose me too," he says weakly, but his heart isn’t in it.

Marinette opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t speak. She chews on her bottom lip for several long seconds while Adrien tries not to stare. 

"I guess that answers the budget question."

* * *

The day after their movie-night-turned-apartment-hunt, Adrien takes her out for lunch. Although the booth is plenty big enough, they’re sat together on one side, Adrien’s arm comfortably across her shoulders while they wait for their food.

He drops a kiss on top of her head and Marinette smiles. He was always good at playing the romantic. She loves all of his little gestures. They really are perfect for each other. They would've been really happy together if she hadn't missed her chance. 

She pushes down her regret. 

"So," she says to distract herself, "a lot of rich kids travel before starting university. If you didn’t have to stay here, where would you want to go?”

“Oh, um, I don’t know. I did a bit of travel with my parents when I was young, like they’d take me along on work trips, but I didn’t really like it all that much. But I don’t know if that really counts? I didn’t get to do any sightseeing or anything like that.” She feels him shrug against her.

“No wonder you didn’t like it,” she says. “That sounds pretty boring.”

He makes a sound of agreement. “I think I might enjoy it if I had the chance, if circumstances were different and I didn’t need to stay here. But not like Father wants. Sightseeing with a friend sounds fun. I just wouldn’t want to go alone, you know? And not for work.”

“Of course,” she agrees quietly. Of course he doesn’t want to be alone. She nuzzles a little closer to him as a comforting gesture and he squeezes her shoulders.

“I wouldn’t mind traveling with you, when this is all over,” he says softly.

Her heart swells.

The moment is interrupted by his cell phone ringing.

He removes his arm from around her shoulders so that he can pull his phone out. He answers it with a sigh.

The conversation is brief, and she can only hear Adrien’s side, which consists of “Now?” and “But—” and a resigned “Okay.”

“Surprise photoshoot?” she guesses.

“Surprise photoshoot.”

“This is the third time you’ve been called away from one of our dates,” Marinette notes evenly.

“You think he’s doing it on purpose,” he says.

She doesn’t deny it. It wasn’t really a question. And anyway, she can read on his face that he doesn’t disagree with her assessment.

“Do you have enough time to eat first at least?”

He shakes his head. 

Of course not. That would defeat the purpose of keeping them apart.

If Adrien was actually planning on leaving for London in a week, she would be really angry about the constant interference with their last bit of time together. As it is, she’s just annoyed at the disruptions.

“It’s fine. I’ll see if I can get it packed to go. Maybe we can meet up afterwards.”

“You’re the best,” he says, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before heading outside, where she can see through the front window a car is already waiting for him.

Marinette watches him go with tingling lips. She curses her greedy heart. Every extra bit of him she gets only leaves her wanting more. 

* * *

“Hey, you okay?”

Marinette looks up from where she’s painting Alya’s toenails a pretty shade of plum. They’re babysitting the twins, but they’re asleep now (finally), so it’s just the two of them. 

“Yeah, of course! Why?”

Alya shrugs. “You and Adrien are finally together. I thought you’d be happier.”

Marinette flails, and barely keeps from spilling nail polish all over the Césaire’s couch. She shoves the brush back into the bottle haphazardly as she babbles, “I’m happy! Of course I’m happy. Super happy. Why would you think I’m not happy?”

“I’m not saying you’re not,” Alya replies while staring at her steadily. Marinette feels horribly exposed. “You just seem...tense? And I thought you’d be more smitten-like.”

“Oh,” she says. She decides that actually, she’d rather have this conversation with an excuse to look away and resumes Alya’s pedicure. “Well, it’s a little bit tricky with Adrien’s father. He’s not happy about us being together, you know?”

“I don’t care if he’s a big shot designer. If he doesn’t think you’re good enough for Adrien, the man clearly has zero taste.”

She can’t help smiling at that. “I don’t think it’s even personal, to be honest. He has a plan for Adrien’s future and I’m interfering with that.”

“Is he still trying to make him leave?”

“Yeah,” she says, nodding. She finishes with Alya’s little toe, and caps the polish. She blows across her toes before continuing, “Adrien’s stopped arguing with him because it’s not worth it. He’s never going to be able to convince him.”

“Even if Adrien does go, it’s not the end of the world, right? I mean, long distance relationships are a thing.”

“I know, but...I don’t want him to go.” Her voice comes out a little unsteadily. It's not even for show. The thought of Adrien going away, of losing him and needing to do everything on her own, terrifies her. They're a team and she can't imagine fighting without him. But also she's come to rely on him. He's a huge part of her support system. 

“Oh, M.” 

Alya slides her feet off Marinette’s lap, careful not to brush anything with her still-wet toes, and shuffles over to Marinette’s side. She wraps her arms around her and squeezes tight. Marinette melts into the hug. It feels good to be comforted like this, even if Alya doesn’t really understand—she _can’t_ understand. Marinette wishes that she could spill and tell her everything. She trusts Alya completely and she feels like she already keeps too many secrets from her.

Would it be so bad to tell her? Alya would tell Nino, of course, but then, Marinette already knows that Adrien wants to confide in him. Then they’d both have someone other than their kwamis to talk to.

Alya would be upset that they’d lied, but she’d forgive them.

The trouble is that they wouldn’t be able to tell their friends why this is so necessary in the first place.

And with everything already weighing on her, she doesn’t know if she could handle Alya telling her they’re being ridiculous.

Because she would think they’re being ridiculous. Of course she would.

At least 50% of the time Marinette thinks they’re being ridiculous too, and she knows how absolutely critical it is that Chat Noir remain in Paris.

(But also, she thinks Adrien really needs to break away if he’s ever going to be happy, and there’s very little she wouldn’t do for his happiness.)

“You two have come so far. Remember when you couldn’t even speak to him properly? And then you became really good friends. And now he’s your boyfriend! He loves you. Whatever happens, even if he does leave for a bit, I believe in the two of you,” Alya says into her hair, hugging her tight.

Marinette squeezes back, touched at her friend’s attempt to comfort her, and guiltily aware of the other reason she’s not telling Alya the truth.

Because deep down she knows that, if she knew, Alya would push her to confess for real. 

She already gets enough of that from Tikki.

And no one is more effective at pushing her than Alya.

She pulls back from the hug and says “We’ll figure it out. Anyway, how was your date last night?”

* * *

Marinette gives Adrien a bright smile and tells him, "I’ve narrowed it down to seven places I think we’ll both really like. It took a little work, but I managed to make appointments for us to see them all in one day. We’ll have a place in no time!"

“You’re amazing, Marinette.”

He holds up his fist and she bumps it with hers.

"Pound it!"

* * *

It’s a beautiful summer day. The sun is warm against Adrien’s skin, yet not so hot that he’s sweaty. The kind of day where he could just lay down in a patch of sunlight and sleep for hours, warm and content.

This perfect day is made even better by the fact that Adrien gets to spend it with Nino. For the past several years it’s been near impossible for them to get any significant time together outside of school unless Adrien sneaks out of the house. He wishes his father was more understanding of the fact that while _Father_ may not be very fond of Nino, Nino is very important to _Adrien_.

He pushes the thought aside. It’s a beautiful day, a great day, an _important_ day, and he doesn’t want to spoil it by dwelling on unhappy thoughts.

“ _Now_ will you tell me where we’re going?” Nino cuts into his musings. He rolls his eyes and adds in a put upon tone, “I already promised I won’t tell Alya. Come on.”

“I wanted you to come with me to the jewelry store,” he answers. “I...I’m going to ask Marinette to marry me.”

“Dude.” Nino stops walking.

Adrien stops as well, and waits patiently for his friend to process. “Yeah.”

“ _Dude_.”

“I know.”

Nino turns worried eyes on him. "I dunno...don't you think this is a little fast?"

It’s been less than two weeks since they met up for ice cream. 

"She's the One." He gives a little shrug and continues walking. Nino thankfully follows.

"Okay but you don't have to get engaged right now,” Nino says slowly. “She'll still be the One in a few years, right?"

"Right, so why waste any time?"

"Dude, come on.” Nino weaves around a tourist taking a picture of some random building. “That's not what I meant."

“I know what you meant. But I can’t imagine a future without her and I want to marry her.”

"Okay, but... Look I'm not trying to say my relationship is perfect or that every relationship needs to be like mine, but Alya and I have been together a long time now, yeah? And when I think about the future it's always, always with her."

"Yeah?" Adrien can't help smiling. Nino and Alya really are #relationshipgoals.

"Yeah, man. Of course I'm going to marry her some day if that's what she wants. But first she wants to get her journalism degree and I want to get my career off the ground so we can support each other. Like, the fact that we’re waiting doesn’t mean we’re not completely committed to each other, you know? And...Marinette's ambitious. She's been dreaming of being a designer since maternelle. You really think she wants to get married before she even gets her degree?"

Adrien rubs the back of his neck awkwardly because no, he doesn't think that. He knows she's only doing this because he's desperate. But he can't tell Nino that.

"I can support her," he says instead, which is true at least. Once he has access to the trust funds he can take care of her the way she deserves.

"You two literally just started dating. I know you've been friends a long time, but a relationship is different. Things are already changing between you. If too much changes at once it can strain things. What's the rush?"

Adrien swallows. "The rush is my father's trying to make me leave the country. If I marry Marinette he can't take me away from her."

“I thought you told him you weren’t going.”

“I did. He won’t listen.”

Nino scowls. "Your dad _sucks_."

“Father has his own ideas about what’s best for me. They’re just...not the same as what I want,” he says weakly. He tries not to think about the fact that his father hasn't ever asked what Adrien wants.

"Hm," Nino says, which is enough for Adrien to know how he feels about that. "Is this really the way you want to handle this though? You've got other choices. You could do long distance or refuse to go or tell your dad to fuck off and work as a call boy."

"As much as I appreciate that last suggestion and the mental image of Father's face turning purple—” (He can just imagine Father trying to sue him for violating his non-compete by offering his _companionship_ to lonely people.) “—I don’t think Marinette would like that very much.” Adrien knocks his shoulder into Nino’s affectionately. “But I'm sure. I'm going to ask Marinette to marry me."

They come up to the store front, but tacitly agree not to go inside until they finish talking. This is not a conversation to be had in front of the shop employees. They linger in front of the glass display in the window, showcasing earrings and necklaces and rings, all full of glittering diamonds.

"Okay I didn't want to say this but, like, what if she says no? This is really early, dude. Like crazy early. Have you guys even talked about marriage? I don't think a proposal is supposed to completely shock a person."

"I mean, if she says no, of course I’ll accept it, but I don’t think she will,” Adrien says. He appreciates what Nino’s trying to do here. He’s a good friend, and in normal circumstances these would all probably be things he needed to hear. As it is though, he just feels guilty. He hates lying to his best friend like this. He redirects, “We decided to move in together.”

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean that's mostly because we're pretty sure I'm going to need a place to stay once my father realizes I'm not going to leave but…"

"Dude. You know you can crash with me if it comes to it, right?"

"I know. But that's not really a long term solution. I could never impose like that."

"You're my best friend, Adrien. You're not an imposition."

He knows that, but hearing Nino say it still floods him with warmth. 

"Still, I _want_ to live with Marinette."

"Okay, that's fair, but why not just move in together? A relationship doesn't need a ring to be committed. You know that, right?"

Adrien doesn't have an answer for him. Not without telling Nino about the trust, which he promised not to do. He wants to marry Marinette, of course. But would they be moving this fast if they had gotten together for real? 

There’s no sense thinking about that now. He pushes the thought away.

"Want to know what I think?" Nino raises a critical eyebrow at him. 

"Okay."

"I think you lost your mom, and then you lost Nathalie, and your dad's cold and distant _and a dick_ and always pushing you away. So now that you've got Marinette, you wanna lock that down before you lose her too. But dude, Marinette's crazy about you. She's not going anywhere."

"I know that." Adrien swallows. Nino's words strike a little harder than he's sure he intended them because he doesn't have Marinette. Not really. "Look, maybe I'm being stupid and rushing and this will blow up in my face. But maybe this will be wonderful and amazing. Maybe I'm messed up but I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I do."

“I’m not saying you can’t or you won’t. I just don’t want you to rush.”

“I don’t want to wait,” he insists.

Nino looks conflicted. "If you're sure, man."

"I am," he says, opening the door. "I really want your support in this."

And Nino, wonderful friend that he is, goes into the jewelry store to help his ridiculous friend pick out an engagement ring for his girlfriend of two weeks. Adrien appreciates him so much more than he can express.

Maybe he can’t be what Marinette wants, maybe he can’t give her everything she deserves, but at least he can buy her a beautiful ring.

And if that allows him to live out one of his deeply held fantasies, well, there’s certainly no harm in that, right?

* * *

_Chat Noir patted the spot next to him on the overhang and Ladybug sat down._

_"Talk to me," he said softly._

_"I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this," she admitted. "That's - that's not the first time Hawkmoth's tried to akumatize me. I had a couple of close calls as a civilian before, but since Master Fu... at this rate, even if he doesn't get me he's going to figure out who I am."_

_Chat inhaled sharply at that._

_"What can I do?" he pleaded. "Anything I can do to help, I'll do it."_

_"It's not your fault. I know you're doing what you can and you keep me grounded and look out for me when we're in costume. Like today. Most of the akumas come after me when I'm a civilian anyway and obviously there's not really anyone I can go to with all of this stuff then. Tikki keeps reminding me that Hawkmoth can only akumatize those who think there's no solution to their problems and I've been able to fight him off so far but... I'm worried I'll slip."_

_They sat in silence for several long seconds before Chat spoke._

_"I... have a suggestion," he said slowly, "but I'm afraid you're not going to like it." She looked at him expectantly and he continued, "I think we should share our identities."_

_"No," she said automatically._

_"Hear me out. I know the rule was we couldn't know_ —"

_"Because it's dangerous!"_

_"More dangerous than this?"_

_Her jaw clicked shut._

_"You can't go on like this, Ladybug. You're the strongest person I know, but you don't need to do this alone. Let me be there for you, in_ and _out of the mask."_

_She didn’t answer right away, and he hoped the stretched out silence meant that she was considering it._

_He loved her. It killed him to think of how much she was carrying, how much she was struggling._

_She bit her lip. "I want to say yes," she admitted and he could hear the hesitation underneath her words._

_"But?"_

_"I'm afraid of making a mistake again," she whispered, and he knew she was thinking about when she accidentally led Hawkmoth to Fu._

_"We've both made mistakes," he sighed, thinking about Desperada and New York and about the fact that Hawkmoth had been targeting her for months and he hadn’t even known. "But obviously what we're doing right now isn't working. I think it's time for a change."_

_"I trust you," she said and he thought his heart could burst with love for her._

_Once they were safely tucked away from view in the shelter of the building's chimney, they released their transformations._

_And it was her._

Marinette _._

_A million little pieces clicked together in his mind, and it was like suddenly the world made sense._

_How she always took charge in a crisis. Why he never saw her during akuma attacks. How he always felt different about her than his other friends._

_The crush on her he’d been trying to deny to himself._

_Of course she was Marinette. Hadn’t he called her his everyday Ladybug?_

_A pang of longing twinged in his chest. Of course, she wasn’t_ his _anything. She’d made that very clear._

_He pushed the pang away. He’d gotten very good at that._

_Marinette needed him and he would be there for her. He’d be the best friend, the most supportive partner. He’d be whatever she needed him to be._

_What he wasn’t going to do was add to her troubles by renewing his attempts to win her heart._

_He loved her too much for that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: the proposal.
> 
> I would love to hear what you think so far! Every time I get a comment, I squeal like a toddler who just discovered their reflection for the first time ♥♥♥
> 
> You can also come squeal with me over these two idiots on [tumblr](https://jennagrinsoverml.tumblr.com/).


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't want to leave you."
> 
> "Then don't."
> 
> This is it. 
> 
> “What if I didn’t go? What if…” Adrien reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring box as he gets down on one knee. Excited murmurings fill the air around them. He’s pretty sure that’s Alya gasping “oh my god!”

The day before Adrien is supposed to fly out to London, his father finally deigns to see him in person, striding into Adrien’s room like he hadn’t stood him up at breakfast only hours earlier.

“I understand Anais has communicated the essentials of what you will need to bring with you tomorrow,” his father says, standing with his hands loosely clasped behind his back in the middle of Adrien’s room.

Adrien strains to hear any hint of warmth, any sense that his father will miss him in his tone, but there’s nothing there.

Still, he has to believe that his father cares, that it’s just buried below his formal demeanour.

“She told me to bring what was important to me and leave the rest. That I’d be traveling so much that it would be easier to just buy what I need,” Adrien relays.

Father makes a noise of agreement.

He knows it won’t make a difference, but he has to try one last time.

“Please, Father,” he pleads. “Can’t I stay here with you? If you really don’t want me to go to university, I’ll delay for a year, but I don’t want to travel all over with nowhere to call home and no familiar faces around me. _Please_.”

His father is unmoved. “I’m glad to hear you’ve relinquished this imprudent notion of attending university. That would only be a waste of time and money. Gabriel employs highly qualified people who will teach you everything you need to know.”

“But—”

“There’s nothing to keep you here. The Paris offices are well-managed. Your presence is required abroad, to manage the brand where I am not.”

Frustration burns behind Adrien’s eyes. His father hasn’t even considered his feelings at all. He’s just an asset to be deployed at will.

“If there’s a problem with the international offices, shouldn’t you be the one to deal with that?” 

It’s the wrong thing to say.

His father’s eyes narrow. “I’ve had quite enough of this disrespectful attitude of yours. Perhaps once you’ve done some real work, you’ll learn proper behaviour, since I have clearly failed to instil such in you before now.” 

He gasps. “I - I do everything you ask,” he says. “I’m always watching what I say, how I act. And I work so hard! I’ve juggled full time modeling work with full time school as well as piano, Chinese and fencing. I don’t ask you for much. I’m just asking not to have to leave my home.” 

“Ah, yes, your sense of decorum has been on display for the whole world as you’ve made a public display of your affections these past few weeks,” Father says. “And I haven’t forgotten that you chose to attend school over and against my wishes. If you had any difficulty in balancing that with your other responsibilities, that was a result of your own poor choices. I had arranged a superior curriculum for you here, but you decided that wasn’t to your liking.” 

“I just wanted to have friends!” Adrien bursts. “And now you want to make me leave them and I’ll be completely alone again.” His voice cracks embarrassingly. 

“I can see you are far too emotional to discuss this now,” his father says, turning away. Adrien’s heart sinks. There’s no persuading Father once his mind is made up. At least, not that Adrien’s ever managed. He pauses in the doorway, his back still to Adrien. “A car will take you to the airport at 15 hours tomorrow and you will go to London. I trust I’ve made myself clear.” 

“Father, wait.” 

“I will not brook any further argument from you, Adrien.” 

He swallows. “Can I at least have my friends come to see me off?” 

There’s a lengthy pause while his father considers. Then he gives a stiff nod and leaves Adrien alone. 

He knew his father would never change his mind, but still, he had hoped. 

He swallows down his hurt and disappointment. 

(He’s getting better at it all the time.) 

* * *

Over the past few years, Adrien has become increasingly difficult to manage, but that’s nothing to his behaviour as of late. It’s only worsened since he started dating Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

How is Gabriel supposed to keep Adrien safe if he continually disobeys him? 

He was never so unwieldy when Emilie was around. Back when they were all together as a family he was so tractable, so happy and eager to please. 

Nothing’s been the same since Emilie’s been gone. 

Even without his mother, though, when Nathalie was here to handle things, Adrien was much more acquiescent. 

Anais is passable as a personal assistant, but Adrien won’t listen to her the way he did to Nathalie. 

It’s intensely frustrating. 

Still, everything will be as it should once he obtains the earrings and the ring, makes his wish, and restores Emilie. (And Nathalie, if he can manage it. He’s not entirely sure what the limits of the Wish are, if there are limits.) 

Their family will be as it should then. 

It will be perfect. 

But in the meantime, he needs to bring his rebellious son to heel. 

With Adrien away, Gabriel will be able to focus his attention completely on his quest for the miraculous. 

He has wasted too much time already. 

Ladybug and Chat Noir must have come of age some time in the last six months or so. He’s not sure when it happened exactly, but it’s clear that they are no longer limited by the timer. He needs to mount an offensive now, before they become even more powerful. 

Once his son is away from these unsavoury connections, he will surely remember his place and his responsibility to his family, and give up these nonsensical notions of school and friends. 

It’s an added benefit that Adrien leaving the country will likely mean the end of this romantic entanglement. It’s become apparent that Mlle Dupain-Cheng’s negative influence is far more troublesome than Mr Lahiffe’s ever was. 

And if the loss of her prize is what finally allows him to akumatize Mlle Dupain-Cheng, well. 

That could be exactly the advantage he needs to finally crush his enemies. 

Perhaps this cloud has a silver lining after all. 

* * *

Adrien's father is expecting him to fly out in two hours. Adrien, of course, has no intention of doing so. Still, since all of his arguments and protests have been ignored, he and Marinette have decided that their best option is to play along… until the last minute. 

Normally, under other circumstances, like if this were real, Adrien would have liked to propose privately. Maybe on a rooftop or at the top of the Eiffel tower or even on her balcony. Just somewhere with only the two of them, so he could set up the romantic backdrop she deserves. 

But this proposal isn't really about them. 

And as important as it was for their relationship to be public, it’s infinitely more important that their engagement be to make their eventual marriage that much harder to undermine...and to ensure that it happens. 

Alya and Nino insisted on coming along to see him off. They haven’t told their friends what they’re planning, although he thinks Nino suspects part of it at least. 

Marinette is the last of the group to be picked up before the airport. 

Adrien gets out to greet her. When he sees her, he suppresses his gasp before he remembers that he doesn't have to, that he shouldn't. 

She’s dressed up for the occasion, wearing a pretty pink dress that brings out the glow of her skin and...her hair is down. Every time she wears it loose, it takes his breath away, and he has to reign in his fantasies of running his fingers through it while kissing her. 

He walks towards her in a daze. He knows he’s staring, but he can’t help himself. 

When he reaches her, he slides his hands onto her hips and delights when she wraps her arms around him in turn, smiling up at him sweetly. 

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life," he tells her. 

She plays along. "That's quite the compliment coming from you, hot stuff." She grins and taps his nose with her finger. 

He catches that finger and presses a kiss to it while she giggles. 

“You ready?” he asks. 

This is it. The point of no return. After this they won’t be alone again until after the proposal. If she wants to back out, now’s the time to do it. 

She seems to know what he’s asking, as always. 

“I’m with you all the way,” she says. 

"Come on," he says, turning and twining their fingers together. "We don't want to be late." 

The ride to Charles de Gaulle is quiet. If his father asks, he wants the report to be that they were melancholy on the drive over. He’d rather his father think that he acted rashly than deliberately set-out to disobey him. 

(It probably doesn’t matter, but Adrien wants to minimize the damage to their relationship any way he can.) 

Also, even knowing the plan, even knowing Marinette's answer in advance, he's still nervous. 

The Gorilla drops them off at the airport with a frown. Adrien appreciates the sympathy in his eyes and the gentle pat he gives him on his shoulder. He knows he's just following his father's orders. 

He unloads Adrien’s suitcase and raises a questioning eyebrow. 

"It's okay," Marinette answers. "We'll see him off and find our own way back." 

The Gorilla nods and leaves. 

They make their way into the terminal and seek out a large enough crowd. Adrien had thought the best place for this would be right at the departure gate, like something out of a movie, before Marinette had destroyed that fantasy with words like "security" and "you need a ticket" and "I don’t want to get arrested". 

The line to go through security is long. There have to be at least a couple people who will want to use their phones to stream this, right? And if not, well, there’s always Alya. Once she figures out what’s going on, there’s no way she doesn’t get her phone recording, right? 

“I guess this is where we say goodbye,” he murmurs. And even though he knows he isn’t leaving, he doesn’t have to fake the sadness in his voice. Because if not for his responsibility to this city, if he didn’t have a real reason to stay, right now he would be leaving everything he cares about behind. 

He exchanges hugs and goodbyes with Alya and Nino, then hugs Marinette tight. He kisses her cheek, then picks up his bag and heads for the security line, like they planned. 

He’s only just reached the line when Marinette yells after him. 

“Adrien!” she calls, chasing after him, and even though it was pre-planned, the sight of her running towards him fills him with warmth. “Adrien, please. I don’t want you to go.” 

He absently notes that the crowd, with nothing better to do as they wait to go through security, has turned its collective attention towards their little display. 

"Is that Adrien Agreste?" he hears someone murmur. 

"I don't want to leave either,” he says, pitching his voice a little louder than usual. “I don't want to go to London. I want to stay here with you." 

He feels Alya and Nino’s stares pressing on them like a weight. Nino, at least, should have an idea of what’s coming. 

Marinette takes his hands in hers, and stares up into his eyes. "Then don't! You belong in Paris with me. I want you to stay." 

Is Alya streaming? He can’t take his eyes off of Marinette to check. Someone must be by now though, right? 

"I don't want to leave you." 

"Then don't." 

This is it. 

“What if I didn’t go? What if…” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring box as he gets down on one knee. Excited murmurings fill the air around them. He’s pretty sure that’s Alya gasping “oh my god!” 

The crowd is definitely paying attention now. 

He’s pretty sure his hands are sweating. 

He takes a deep breath, focuses on the woman in front of him, and then speaks the words within his heart. 

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I love you. I fell in love with you pretty much as soon as we met and since then I've only fallen deeper and deeper in love with you. You're the most amazing person I know. I love how passionate you are. The way you get so fired up and protective when you see an injustice. How focused you get when you're creating. How much you care. How clever you are - god, the way your mind works amazes me. I love your courage in standing up for what's right. Just...I love everything about you. You make me so happy and I want to be the reason for your happiness too. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He opens the box. "I want to be with you forever. Marry me?" 

The airport is shockingly silent as everyone waits for Marinette's answer. 

Adrien looks up at her with anticipation. Are those tears in her eyes? No, he must be imagining it. 

"Yes, of course I will!" Marinette drops to her knees and throws her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. 

A cheer goes up from the crowd. 

"Kiss her!" someone yells. 

Who is Adrien to deny their audience? 

He pulls back and moves to hold her face before realizing the ring box is still in his hand. He and Marinette giggle together as he pulls the ring out and slides it onto her finger, then shoves the empty box back into his pocket. 

Now that his hands are free, he brings them to her cheeks. She smiles brightly at him from between his hands, the very picture of a woman who is thrilled to be newly engaged. 

His first kiss hits her teeth. His second is just a warm press of lips. His third lingers and deepens as she kisses him like she means it. 

(For just a minute, he lets himself pretend that she means it.) 

* * *

“Holy shit. You’re engaged. You’re actually engaged." Alya gapes at them. “Congratulations, you two!” She throws her arms around Marinette. “Let me see that ring.” 

Marinette holds her hand up and Alya takes it in hers, twisting her hand this way and that so the gem catches the light. Marinette stares at it with her friend, taking in the ring for the first time, now that she’s not ~~internally combusting over~~ focused on the proposal itself. She wasn’t expecting such a sweet speech. And for all they’d planned, they never actually talked about the ring. 

The gem in the middle is round, a brilliant pale pink colour, and circled by diamonds. The band is rose gold and studded with diamonds too. 

It’s nothing like what she would’ve expected Adrien to pick out, and absolutely beautiful. 

She loves it. 

“Is that a pink diamond?” Alya asks. 

“It’s morganite,” Adrien answers. He rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, if you don’t like it we can take it back for something else, Marinette. I wanted to get you something that felt like you and I know how much you love pink and you’re a designer, I just couldn’t see you with something traditional. But Alya’s right, a pink diamond would have been more fashionable, it just...wasn’t really in my budget. But we can replace it down the line if you want! Or like I said, we can take it back and get you something else. Whatever you want.” 

He put so much thought into the kind of ring that would suit her for an engagement that isn’t even real. Of course he did. Adrien’s always been thoughtful like that. 

She loves it even more for that. 

(She loves him even more for it.) 

“I love it, kitten.” She presses a light kiss to his mouth. Is she ever going to get used to kissing him? 

“Told you she’d love it. I’m happy for you, bro,” Nino says, throwing an arm around Adrien’s back and bumping their fists together. 

“What do you mean you told him? Did you know about this??” Alya gasps. 

“Um.” 

“And you didn’t tell me??” 

“Come on, babe. Don’t be mad. I was sworn to secrecy!” 

“I didn’t think you knew how to keep secrets from Alya,” Marinette laughs. 

“I guess that means you’re staying?” Nino asks, skillfully redirecting the conversation away from his surprise ability to keep secrets from his girlfriend. 

Adrien nods. “Yeah,” he says, and Marinette grins. She knew already, of course, but it still fills her chest with warmth. 

Adrien’s staying in Paris. With her. 

Where he belongs. 

“No sense sticking around then.” 

The four of them make their way out of the terminal, laughing and smiling together in their shared excitement. 

Unfortunately, before they even make it to the doors, people start screaming. And not the excited just-watched-a-public-proposal screaming of a few minutes ago. 

It isn't a surprise that Hawkmoth would decide to target an airport (after all people saying goodbye to their loved ones seems like a great source of negative emotions) but did it have to be today? There aren't exactly a lot of areas where they can find privacy to transform around here. 

“You two get out of here and celebrate!” Alya yells, throwing a wink over her shoulder as she runs in the direction of the akuma with her phone in hand. 

“I’m going to try to keep her out of trouble,” Nino says with a helpless shrug as he chases after her. 

Marinette wants to yell after her friends not to be so reckless, but she knows it’s a lost cause. And, selfishly, it keeps her from having to come up with an excuse for them to split up. 

“Come on,” Adrien says, taking her hand in his as they run together, and Marinette sees he’s leading them to the parking garage. 

“Smart.” 

Once they’ve done a quick scan for passersby and security cameras, and then ducked between a large van and a concrete wall for extra discretion, they transform. 

When Ladybug and Chat Noir finally arrive on scene, the akuma, Airopain, is firing some kind of beam that sends everyone it hits into double time, screaming out for “that stupid celebrity couple that made me miss my flight!” while the sentimonster, an anthropomorphized airplane uses its propeller to blast through the airport. 

Well, someone clearly didn’t give themselves enough time before their flight if their little ten minute bit was enough for them to miss their flight. 

“So what’s the plan, my lady? Or are we just going to _wing it_?” Chat asks her, grinning as he twirls his baton to deflect the akuma’s blast. 

The battle itself is pretty typical, although the scale of destruction is much more expensive than usual, given the location of the attack. 

(Chat Noir uses Cataclysm to prevent the sentimonster from hitting them with a Boeing and chirps “Your ladybugs better fix all of this. If we have to pay to replace that, we’re going to be _plane_ broke!” She rolls her eyes and groans. It’s expected of her.) 

After a good thirty minutes of dodging blasts and at least six damaged airplanes, they defeat the akuma and sentimonster, Ladybug uses her Cure, and she and Chat find themselves being streamed by several phones as they give each other their customary fist bump. 

Ladybug turns to face the cameras, taking care to give Alya her best side as usual. 

“Sorry for the delay, everyone! I hope no one else misses their flight because of this, and I’m sure airline staff will work with this man to help get him onto a new flight,” she says. “Shame on Hawkmoth for taking advantage of the frustrations of travel. As though the airport isn’t stressful enough!” 

“Although we heard it wasn’t all stress here earlier,” Chat says beside her, and she can hear the smirk in his voice. _Oh no._ “We’d like to congratulate Adrien Agreste and Pajama Girl on their _air_ mazing engagement!” 

Oh, that cat! He’ll pay for that later. 

But for now… 

“Yes, congratulations to the happy couple. Bug out!” 

* * *

They’ve only just gotten into their taxi when Marinette’s phone vibrates with a new text. 

`**Alya**`  
`_18:32_` `im sure youre off to celebrate~~ but u should know youre going viral. LB and CN congratulated u!! Vids are up on the ladyblog 😘`

“I guess our news is out,” Marinette says, showing Adrien the text and trying not to blush at Alya’s insinuation. 

“That’s what we wanted, isn’t it?” he asks. 

She bites her lip. “You don’t think my parents found out already, do you?” 

Adrien looks at her with gentle eyes and squeezes her hand. “I mean...maybe? But not necessarily! Maybe they’ve been busy in the bakery and haven’t been near a TV...or the internet...or talked to anyone or...” 

Marinette groans. For all her planning, she never considered that the news would blow up before she’d have a chance to tell her parents they were getting married herself. (It's not her fault she didn't anticipate being delayed by an akuma attack! What were the chances of an akuma attack at the airport immediately after the proposal?) She was counting on being able to break the news gently. Frame this. Sell it. 

She hopes Maman and Papa won’t freak out too badly. 

Adrien’s sharp intake of breath draws her attention. She looks over at him and he holds up his phone so she can see the display. 

_Incoming Call: Gabriel Agreste._

Shit. He never calls Adrien himself. 

Now it’s her turn to give Adrien’s hand a comforting squeeze as he answers his phone. 

“Hello Father.” 

She can’t make out anything more than the low hiss of Gabriel’s voice, but she feels how what he says causes Adrien to tense up next to her. 

“I’m sorry. Maybe another model could be used for the shoot?” 

Adrien is quiet again while Gabriel says whatever awful things he thinks will hurt him the most. Adrien might be willing to make excuses for his father, but Marinette is well past that. 

“I know but—” Adrien starts, before being interrupted. “No, Father, I’m not trying to say that at all—” He breaks off again. “I told you I didn’t want to leave and—” Marinette exhales slowly through her nose to calm herself as Gabriel cuts Adrien off a third time. Her anger will only make Adrien feel like he needs to defend his father, and that’s not what he needs right now. 

Adrien speaks again, “But I couldn’t go. Father, I love her.” He goes quiet. “...I’m sorry. ...I’m not going to do that. ...I’m sorry that you feel that way, but even though I’m sorry that I upset and disappointed you, I don’t regret my decision. ...No. ...I love Marinette and I’m going to marry her. ...Well, I mean, it’s not up to you. It’s my choice. ...I’m not saying that, but I’m an adult and— ...But I— ...Okay. ...Goodbye, Father.” 

Adrien’s hand grips hers tightly as he puts his phone away, breathing slowly. She can feel the tension radiating off of him and the low vibration of his body everywhere he’s pressed up against her in the back of the taxicab. She squeezes back as tightly as she can. 

“Adrien?” she whispers. 

He rubs his knee with the hand that isn’t holding hers. He won’t meet her eyes. 

“He’s, um, pretty mad. He...wants me to break off the engagement.” 

Well, that’s entirely unsurprising. 

“You okay?” 

Adrien just shrugs. 

She lays her head against his shoulder, and feels the way he leans into her, letting his head fall against hers. 

It’s the two of them against the world. 

Whatever happens with her parents, it has to be better than that, right? 

* * *

Adrien and Marinette are swept off of their feet and into Marinette’s father’s arms as soon as they walk through the bakery doors. 

“I guess this means you heard our news, huh Papa?” 

“My little girl is getting married!” Mr Dupain exclaims, setting them down. He keeps an arm around each of them as he turns to face Mme Cheng, who is still standing behind the bakery counter. “We need to celebrate!” 

“Perhaps Adrien can join us for a family dinner tonight, hm? It would be nice to get to know each other a little better. I’m afraid we haven’t had as many chances as I would have liked,” she says, smiling. 

“I’d like that,” Adrien agrees. 

“Wonderful. Why don’t you two head on up? Tom and I will be able to close the bakery and join you in an hour.” 

* * *

The second they’ve stood up again after climbing through the trap door into Marinette’s room, she’s diving into him and hugging him tight. Tikki and Plagg fly out of their hiding spots and look at them quietly, but don’t say anything. He shakes his head and they give them some space. He rests his head on top of Marinette’s and hugs her back. 

It’s nice to be comforted when he’s upset. 

It’s especially nice to be comforted by Marinette. 

There’s something about holding her in his arms… It’s different from hugging anyone else. She fits like she was made for him. 

He indulges himself in several long soothing minutes, and then he lets her go. She seems to be reluctant to pull away, and she looks up at him with clear concern. 

Thankfully, she seems to sense that he doesn’t want to talk about it. 

What is there to say, after all? They expected this. 

It still hurts though. 

But talking about it isn’t going to change his father. It’s not going to fix this. 

“Ultimate Mecha Strike 6?” she suggests. 

He nods gratefully. 

* * *

“So Adrien, what are your plans?” Mme Cheng says when they’re finally seated together at the dinner table. 

Adrien’s feeling a lot better. He’s grateful for the return of his equanimity before facing Marinette’s parents. It’s a novel experience, being gathered together with family for a meal. Adrien likes it, even if he’s nervous. He wants Marinette’s parents to like him. (He knows they like him as Marinette’s friend, but things are different now.) 

“Oh, um, well what do you mean?” 

“Well, Marinette is off to design school in the Fall, that hasn’t changed, right, dear?” 

“No, Maman.” 

“And what about you, Adrien?” Mme Cheng asks as she passes him the salad bowl. 

“I was accepted to Sorbonne,” he says, taking it. He serves Marinette first and then himself. 

“Oh, how lovely. What will you be studying?” 

“Engineering.” 

“That sounds challenging.” 

“I like physics and, um, I like the idea of problem solving and focusing on applications. But I don’t really know what to expect or if I’ll like it.” 

“You’re going to love it,” Marinette says. “You deserve the chance to focus on doing what makes you happy.” 

Warmth pools in Adrien's chest. He looks down at his plate, then stuffs a bite of chicken into his mouth so that he doesn’t need to respond. He doesn't know what to say to that. 

“You know, baking is a science,” Mr Dupain says. 

“Papa,” Marinette says warningly. 

“What?” he says, smiling innocently. “I’m not saying he shouldn’t go to university! I’m just saying that with you on your way to becoming a big name designer, we’ll need to look elsewhere for someone to take over the family business. And maybe your young man would enjoy baking since he likes science so much. It’s chemistry, you know. Precise measurements, understanding the chemical reactions… You’d love it, Adrien.” 

Adrien’s uncomfortably reminded of when he had lunch with the Dupain-Cheng family as Chat Noir after Marinette confessed her “love" for him to protect her identity. 

And oh...this isn't even the first time she's pretended to be in love with him. 

He can't think about that right now. 

The last thing he wants is for this to end like that did. 

“Oh...I’ve never actually baked before,” he says awkwardly. 

“I’ll teach you!” 

“Well I’m sure there’s plenty of time for these two to decide what they want to do. Don’t pressure them, dear. I imagine Adrien would like to take some time and really consider what he would enjoy and what would make him happy. We certainly don’t want to rush them.” 

Adrien gives one of his model smiles, but inside he just feels awkward. 

“I have to say, we were quite surprised,” Mme Cheng continues. “We saw your proposal online, Adrien—” 

“Oh yes! So romantic!” Mr Dupain breaks in. “I always knew one day my button would find a man who loves her more than anything and puts her first and now she has.” He grins at them wildly, tears in his eyes, and Adrien blushes because he _does_ , he does love Marinette more than anything. “You’re so lucky that people recognized you and taped the whole thing, you know. Now you’ll be able to rewatch and relive the memory for the rest of your lives together!” 

“Yes, right, of course,” Mme Cheng says. “And of course we’re happy for you. You’ve been friends for a long time and Adrien, you know we think the world of you—” Adrien ducks his head bashfully. “—we were just wondering why you decided to get engaged now.” 

“We love each other, Maman. Of course we want to get married,” Marinette answers for him. 

“Of course they love each other! What’s not to love?” Mr Dupain booms. “And they’re going to get married and give us grandbabies!” 

“I think they’re a little young to be having children, Tom,” Mme Cheng says. “It’s wonderful that they’re so committed to each other and so sure of their feelings but they don’t need us rushing them. I’m sure they want to wait until they’ve finished university at least before the wedding and even thinking about starting a family.” 

“We’re definitely not thinking about children right now!” Marinette says, waving her arms frantically at her parents. “But, um, we don’t want to wait to have the wedding. We want to be married as soon as we can.” 

Mme Cheng furrows her brow. “I see,” she says. “And how soon is that?” 

Marinette takes a sip from her wine glass. Adrien’s pretty sure she’s stalling. 

“By the end of summer.” 

“But weddings take time to plan, button,” Mr Dupain says, looking distressed. “I’m not sure if we can get everything done that fast.” 

“Oh, we don’t care about the bells and whistles. Just being married is the most important thing,” she says breezily, taking Adrien’s hand. 

He smiles at her. He can do this. 

“We just want to be married,” he agrees. “When you find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” 

“Hm,” Mme Cheng says. “I can certainly appreciate that sentiment, but you know, you don’t have to wait until you’re married to do a lot of those things. Many couples take the time to try things out before marrying and that’s okay. Things like exclusivity, living together... _sex_. There’s nothing wrong with trying things out and being sure before you get married.” 

Adrien’s face burns. 

“We are sure,” Marinette says firmly. “And anyway, I know that. We’re already looking for places. We’re not waiting until we’re married to move in. We know we don’t have to wait for that.” 

“Or other things,” Mme Cheng says knowingly. 

Adrien can feel his blush intensify at her implication. It’s probably all the way down his chest at this point. Of course everyone thinks that they’re...doing that. But Marinette’s parents?? 

“ _That_ is none of your business,” Marinette says in a tone of voice that would see Adrien grounded if he ever tried it with his father. 

Mme Cheng doesn’t even flinch. 

“I’m not trying to pry! I just don’t want you to rush things when there’s no reason to, sweetie. You’re young and in love. We love that. That’s something we’ve wanted for you for a long time. And everything we’ve seen of Adrien is wonderful.” She turns to him and despite the concern in her voice, her eyes are warm. “Adrien, you seem to be a kind and responsible young man. And you’re obviously very devoted to our daughter. I just don’t understand the rush. You’re so very young. There’s no reason to get married so soon.” 

“I don’t think that’s true,” Adrien says, surprising himself. He meant to leave this argument to Marinette. They’re her parents, after all. But now that he’s started… “Yes, of course you can do certain things whether you’re married or not, but I think marriage is more than that. Otherwise why would anyone get married ever? Obviously it has value in and of itself.” 

He looks over at Marinette and sees her biting her lip guiltily. He feels guilty too but he can’t think about that now. He does think marriage is something beautiful and special and valuable in its own right. He wishes he was giving that version of marriage to her instead of...this. 

He gives her hand a comforting squeeze. 

“Of course it does,” Mme Cheng agrees. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t marry at all. But you’re both very young. Only eighteen years old. You have so much living _and growing_ ahead of you.” 

“You think we’re making a mistake,” Marinette says cooly. 

Mme Cheng shakes her head. “I can’t see into the future. How could I possibly know if this is a mistake or not? But you’re not even into your twenties yet and in the next 5 to 10 years you’re going to grow a lot. Some couples grow together...some grow apart. And it’s not always obvious which couples will be which.” She pauses to take a sip of her wine. “I just want you two to give yourselves the time and space to figure that out for yourselves.” 

“Or at least enough time that we can have a proper wedding!” Mr Dupain exclaims. “What about next summer? We can plan a beautiful wedding in a year. The wedding of your dreams!” 

“Maman, Papa, I understand what you’re saying but...this is what Adrien and I want. We’re sure about this.” 

“There’s a lot more to consider than the wedding before getting married,” Mme Cheng says. 

“We’ve considered,” Marinette insists. 

“Have you discussed finances? Will you keep your finances separate or combine it all? If separate, how will you split up your expenses? Do you have similar views on money? How will you make decisions about large purchases? Do you agree about what a large purchase is? What about children? Not just whether or not you want them, but how will you raise them? What kinds of values or religious philosophies will you raise them with? How will you discipline them? How would you react if you had difficulty conceiving? Where do you want to settle? What if something happens to one of you and you’re unable to work. Will you support the other? Do you share similar values on work versus leisure time? How will you split up the household chores? How do you feel about pets? What are your political views? How will it affect you if you disagree? What happens if your values change over the coming years, as they certainly might?” Mme Cheng rattle off her string of questions in a level voice. “I’m not asking you to answer these questions now and certainly not to me. But these are the types of things you should be discussing with each other before taking such a big step.” 

“We can figure all of that out. None of it will affect the way that we feel or our level of commitment to each other,” Marinette says. 

Adrien struggles to keep his discomfort from showing as he watches Marinette argue with her mother because of him. He didn’t fully consider how much upheaval he would be causing her when he asked her to do this. 

It’s too late now to back down though. 

“I’m not saying this to undermine your relationship, Marinette. I just want you to consider how big of a decision this is. The person you marry will affect the rest of your life. I just want you to be prepared for all of the ways that this will impact your life.” 

“Okay, we’ll talk some more about the stuff you mentioned but...this is still happening.” 

Mr Dupain apparently left at some point while Marinette and Mme Cheng were arguing because he returns bearing a tray with a large cake on it. “Who wants cake?” he asks excitedly, already cutting a large piece that he places in front of Adrien. “Tell me how you like it. We need to discuss flavours.” 

“Flavours?” Adrien echoes, before taking a bite and then barely holding back a moan as the taste of vanilla cream and fresh strawberries bursts across his tongue. “Oh wow, Mr Dupain, this is amazing!” 

“Ooh sounds like a contender for the wedding cake! And please, Adrien, call me Tom,” Mr Dupain— _Tom_ —says with a smile. “What do you think, Marinette?” 

“I don’t know if we’re going to have a cake,” she says. 

“Of course you’re going to have a cake! A proper wedding needs proper desserts. We’ll do a big cake, at least four tiers, each a different flavour. An assortment of cookies. Your favourite flavours of macarons. And of course the traditional croquembouche!” Tom turns to Adrien. “How does that sound, son?” 

Adrien’s voice catches in his throat—he can’t remember the last time he was called that, and certainly not in such a warm tone of voice—and he can’t answer. 

“We were thinking the wedding would be small, Papa,” Marinette says, saving him. “Just the civil ceremony with our closest family and friends and then a little dinner afterwards. That all sounds wonderful, but it’s too much for so few people.” 

“What about the tea ceremony?” Mme Cheng asks. 

She bites her lip. “Adrien’s only got his dad and he’s not supportive of the relationship. I guess we could do it with just our family if it’s important to you? But I don’t really care about having all of the traditions.” 

Mme Cheng stares at them each in turn and Adrien only refrains from squirming in his seat from years of practice. He’s pretty sure Marinette just doesn’t want to experience those traditions with him. She probably wants to save them for when she gets married for real to someone she _love_ -loves. He can’t tell what Mme Cheng thinks about the situation with his father, if she’s sympathetic or unhappy Marinette is getting pulled into it. 

Finally, she says in a quiet voice that Adrien can’t read, “That doesn’t sound like you, Marinette. You love weddings.” 

“It’s not like I’m saying we want to elope! It’s just - the marriage is the important thing, right? Isn’t that what you’re always saying? The wedding is just a party anyway.” 

Mme Cheng’s mouth twists. “All right,” she says. “We just want you to be happy, sweetheart.” 

“I’m marrying the man of my dreams,” Marinette says quietly. “How couldn’t I be?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love each and every single one of you readers! I've been so thrilled with the response that this fic has gotten. I honestly thought it was going to take me longer in between chapters, but you all have given me so much encouragement and motivation. Thank you so much!! I love hearing your thoughts, responses, predictions, etc. You're the best! ♥


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If we have separate rooms, anyone who comes over will realize what’s going on. And I really do need a space for sewing. I’m sorry, I know it’s going to be really awkward but—”
> 
> “It’s okay,” he says. “It’s just a room.”
> 
> “A bed,” she says, blushing and avoiding his eyes. “Couples only need one bed.”
> 
> “Oh,” he says, and he can feel his cheeks burning too. “That’s—” _super, amazing, the stuff of my fantasies_ “—fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I spend multiple hours browsing apartment listings in Paris to write this? Yes, yes I did. But I think it paid off! Hope you enjoy and thanks again for all of the continued support!

Things are not going as planned. 

Adrien is being shockingly stubborn. 

Perhaps it would have been better if he had gotten these indiscretions out of his system a few years ago, when Gabriel had more tools at his disposal to address it. 

As it is, his usual methods are disappointingly ineffective. 

His attempts to keep him at home have been met with defiance. His demands with refusal. His withdrawal with indifference. 

Gone are the days when the fear of Gabriel’s disapproval was enough to keep Adrien in line. 

Instead, it seems that his every maneuver only drives Adrien further into Mlle Dupain-Cheng’s arms. 

He is not foolish enough to tell Adrien he is no longer welcome at home. He is sure that is exactly what she wants, so she can offer him safe haven and solidify her hold on him. 

Still, he has faith. The relationship is still new. It lacks the proper foundation to withstand the storms of fear and insecurity. 

And he certainly has the resources to stoke those. 

* * *

“Okay, we’ve got the place with the high ceilings first,” Marinette says, checking her phone. 

“Oh,” Adrien says, looking over her shoulder to where she’s got the listing open. “That looks great. I like open spaces.” 

“I know,” she says. “Make sure you check out the furniture while we’re looking too. The places come furnished and while we can buy some stuff to fill it out, I’d rather not have to do a lot of that.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, it was either furnished or a three year lease and,” she shrugs and doesn’t say out loud that she knows they won’t be living together that long. Besides, he’ll be able to afford better once he gets his money. 

“Right. So how many apartments are we seeing today?” 

“Seven,” she says, wrinkling her nose. “It’s going to be a full day, but hopefully we’ll find a place we love and we can move in quickly.” 

“The sooner the better,” he agrees. 

Marinette feels for him. Gabriel hasn’t kicked him out of the house, but Adrien hasn’t seen him at all in the three days since the engagement. She can see how the conflict hurts him, though whenever she brings it up he just shrugs and says that he expected this. 

They’re less than two blocks away from the first apartment when a man shoves his phone in their faces. 

“We’re streaming live from the streets of Paris where I’ve just bumped into Adrien Agreste and his fiancée, Marinette Dupain-Cheng AKA Pajama Girl. Marinette, what do you say to the rumours that Adrien is cheating on you?” 

“I - what?” she blurts. 

Because just WHAT? 

“Adrien’s cheating on you,” he repeats. “Comment?” 

She bursts out laughing. Whoever came up with this attempt at generating media stir clearly doesn’t know Adrien at all. 

“There’s pictures.” He pulls out a second device displaying a very convincing photoshop job of Adrien getting awfully close with another woman. “This was taken two days ago.” 

Maybe it would convince her if she didn’t know that 1) Adrien would have to be a complete idiot to screw this up like that, 2) Adrien would never ever do that to anyone, and 3) she and Chat Noir had patrol two days ago when this picture was supposedly taken. 

Also, she still follows Adrien’s career closely and she 100% recognizes the picture they used for Adrien from last spring’s ad campaign. 

“Yeah, that’s clearly fake,” she says. 

“You don’t believe the rumours?” the live-streamer asks, still holding his phone out. He sounds disappointed. 

"Please." She rolls her eyes. "You really think this guy— _this guy_ , who hadn’t even been on a date in three years—waited until _after he proposed_ to cheat on me? And you thought I’d believe that? Yeah, no." 

"You make me sound so pathetic." Adrien pouts. 

"You want me to gush over how you're the sweetest, kindest, upstandingest man I ever met instead?" she asks as she smacks her lips against his firmly. 

"It's a start." He smiles against her mouth. 

As they look into each other's eyes, Marinette can see he's thinking the same thing she is: they've made their point. They can continue on their way now. 

She takes him by the hand and pulls him along, laughing when Adrien gives the guy a little smirk and salute as he is led away. 

Marinette glances back over her shoulder just in time to see the black and purple bubbles overtake the streamer’s figure. 

“Dammit.” 

“Hm?” Adrien looks back as well. “Oh come on!” 

They break into a run as they search for a place to transform. 

* * *

Thanks to the battle with Kill Streamer, they miss their first viewing and head straight to the second. 

“Maybe we can reschedule,” Adrien says hopefully as they wait to be let into the apartment, a little place above a restaurant. "I mean the attack was right there. They should understand." 

“Maybe. I doubt we’ll be able to squeeze it in today though.” Marinette sighs. “I really wanted to see that one.” 

“Maybe this place will be so amazing, it won’t even matter.” 

She nods quietly. 

The front door opens then and the landlady pops her head out. 

"Mr Agreste and Mlle Dupain-Cheng?" 

"Adrien's fine," he greets, flashing her a charming smile as he shakes her hand. 

"Follow me please." 

* * *

They’ve just cleared the building when Marinette turns to him. 

“You can tone it down a little,” she says. 

Adrien’s stomach sinks. He didn’t think he was any more flirty than usual. Did he make her uncomfortable? Has he been making her uncomfortable this whole time? 

“I’m sorry.” 

“No one’s going to get suspicious just because you disagree with me. You don’t have to pretend to like all the things I like and hate all the things I do just to be believable. Couples don’t need to agree on everything. I want to know what you actually think of the places, not what you think I want to hear.” 

He blinks, surprised and more than a little relieved. “I wasn’t!” 

“You _loved_ the purple accents?” she accuses. 

“They brightened up the place.” 

“And the stained hardwood wasn't a big deal?” she scoffs. 

He shrugs. “They’re just floors.” 

“And you also hated the sloped walls?” She raises an eyebrow. 

“Yes!” They’d made him feel claustrophobic. “Why are you so convinced I’m lying to you?” 

She winces. “Sorry. I guess I just didn’t think our opinions would match up so exactly.” 

He bites back the urge to say _That’s because we’re perfect for each other, bug._

“I'm not. We’re well-suited,” he says instead. “It will make this easier.” 

“Speaking of—” She hesitates. “The bonus room.” 

“Oh, right. Good call.” 

“We can’t use it as a second bedroom.” 

“We...can’t?” 

She looks around and, apparently satisfied that they won’t be overheard, says “If we have separate rooms, anyone who comes over will realize what’s going on. And I really do need a space for sewing. I’m sorry, I know it’s going to be really awkward but—” 

“It’s okay,” he says. “It’s just a room.” 

“A bed,” she says, blushing and avoiding his eyes. “Couples only need one bed.” 

“Oh,” he says, and he can feel his cheeks burning too. “That’s—” _super, amazing, the stuff of my fantasies_ “—fine.” 

“Okay. Great. Glad we cleared that up,” she says. Her voice is a little strained, but he figures it’s just the embarrassment. He’ll show her he’s a gentleman and she has nothing to worry about. 

* * *

They’re at apartment #3 on the list (previously #4) when Adrien’s phone goes off. He checks the display and his mood plummets. 

Anais. 

Reluctantly, he answers. 

“Adrien,” she says by way of greeting. “Mr Agreste has asked me to schedule dinner for tomorrow night. Are you and Mlle Dupain-Cheng available?” 

Well that’s...unexpected. 

“Father wants to have dinner with me and Marinette?” 

“As I said. Are you available?” 

“I - yes,” he says, struggling to cover up his surprise. “We’re available.” 

“The usual hour. Your appointment is confirmed,” she says and disconnects the call. 

He feels a mix of surprise that his father is willing to see them, hope that it might mean he’s coming around, and annoyance at Anais’s formal, detached way of handling things. He hates being treated as just another one of his father’s obligations. 

“What was that all about?” Marinette asks. 

“Father invited us to dinner tomorrow night.” 

“Like an engagement dinner?” She sounds surprised. “Like he wants to bring the families together?” 

“Anais didn’t mention that. Just you and me.” 

“Um...okay.” 

“We can deal with it later,” he says, noticing the landlord hovering nearby and eavesdropping shamelessly. That alone might eliminate this place. The last thing they need is a nosy landlord poking around in their business. They have too many secrets for that. He plasters on a smile. “Is this the place with the new bathroom?” 

She smiles fondly at him. “I knew that would be a hit with you.” 

“I do like a nice shower.” 

“Bathroom’s this way.” 

* * *

As soon as Marinette walks into the next apartment, she’s in love. It’s bright, with big windows letting in lots of natural light. Some of the walls have been painted a steel blue instead of the stark white that seems standard. The space is small, but it doesn’t feel crowded. It just feels like a place she can see herself living in. 

The landlord stands back and lets them look around. 

“I like the colour,” Adrien says, sitting down to try out the couch. 

She walks by him to one of the large windows and looks out. They’re on the top floor and it seems to be the tallest building in the area. Looking out, it certainly seems private. 

“We’re very concerned with our privacy,” she says. 

“I’m sure,” the landlord says from his place by the door. “The apartment features no direct view from outside.” 

“The listing mentioned a balcony?” she asks. 

“It’s off the bedroom,” he answers, gesturing to the left. 

She and Adrien make their way into the bedroom. 

Marinette takes a quick glance around, trying not to look too closely at the bed. She knows that if she thinks about it too much she’ll blush. _It’s fine. It’s just a place to sleep._

“It has good storage,” Adrien offers. 

The bedroom is small but has built in storage behind the bed as well as two tall wardrobes on either side of the balcony doors. 

She nods. “I think it will fit our clothes.” 

Her cursory examination of the bedroom complete, she steps out onto the balcony. It’ll probably accommodate a couple of her plants, but nothing like the garden she has back home. Still it offers them a discreet means of coming and going. It’ll do. 

They look at the bathroom next. It’s clean and bright, and completely surrounded in white subway tiles. The shower is enclosed in glass. There’s no tub. The vanity has enough space for soap and a toothbrush and not much else. 

Adrien steps into the shower as he has at every single place they’ve looked at. (“Nino said to check the height of the faucet! Sometimes they’re too low,” he insisted back at the first place when she’d demanded to know just what he thought he was doing.) She fights to keep heat out of her cheeks but it’s hard not to think about _Adrien in the shower_ when he’s _literally in the shower_. 

He steps out past the glass surround and moves on to testing the water, oblivious to her internal struggles. “Everything seems to be working.” 

“Let’s see the kitchen,” she says, anxious to move on to a neutral space. 

The kitchen is on the other side of the living room. It’s a tight galley setup, with a breakfast bar. The open concept means the cooking smells will spread, but it’s one of the few kitchens they’ve seen that includes an oven, which is a major score. She could always go back to her parents’ to bake Tikki’s special powerup cookies, but she’d rather not have to do that. 

Just past the kitchen is a little dining room. 

“I can definitely use this space for sewing,” she says. “And we can get a desk and set up the computer in here for schoolwork.” 

“I think it’s perfect.” 

“I love this apartment,” she admits quietly. 

“Me too. It’s my favourite place we’ve seen yet,” Adrien says. “Let’s ask for a rental contract.” 

“Don’t you want to crunch the numbers first?” 

“Not really,” he says, shrugging. “You wouldn’t make an appointment for us to see a place that was outside of our price point, and it’s not like that’s a serious long term concern anyway. I don’t want to hesitate and lose it.” 

“You’re right,” she agrees. “Okay, let’s do this.” 

* * *

“We got the place!” Marinette exclaims, jumping up in her excitement and showing him her phone. 

“Really?” He breaks into delighted laughter. This is really happening. “When can we move in?” 

“Monday! We need to start packing.” 

He catches sight of the time. “Let’s get through dinner with my father first.” 

* * *

To Marinette’s surprise, Mr Agreste is not waiting to meet them in the front entryway when they arrive. From listening to Adrien, she had determined that was kind of his thing when he was upset. She’d like to think it’s because he’s coming around and starting to accept their engagement, that this “invitation” to dinner is a sign of that, but that would require a higher opinion of Adrien’s father than she possesses. 

“Mr Agreste is in the dining room,” Anais says, turning to lead the way as though Adrien hasn’t lived here his whole life. As if this isn’t still his home. 

Marinette bristles, but doesn’t say anything. She needs to stay calm. For Adrien. 

Adrien’s hand tightens his hold on hers as they near the dining room. She squeezes back. 

Mr Agreste is already seated at the head of the table when they walk in. 

“How kind of you to finally join me,” he says. “I see you continue to place as little value on my time as you do on my guidance.” 

They’re a minute or two late at most. 

“I’m sorry, Father,” Adrien says as he pulls back Marinette’s chair. 

The first course, a lobster bisque, is brought out. Marinette is very careful not to slurp in the stifling silence. She doesn’t want to invite more judgement from Mr Agreste. As it is, she thinks he’s just letting them stew. She can feel how tense Adrien is next to her. She’s sure that’s entirely by design. 

They’re halfway through a course of salmon with grilled vegetables, when Gabriel finally breaks the silence. 

“Mlle Dupain-Cheng, you intend to marry my son.” 

“Please, call me Marinette. We’re going to be family,” she says and barely keeps from grinning when she sees his jaw clench. “And yes, of course. He did ask me.” 

“Adrien is often rash.” 

Marinette’s been fighting side by side with Adrien for too many years to argue with that. 

“Maybe,” she says, “but it always seems to work out in the end.” 

“Hm,” Mr Agreste chuffs disapprovingly. “Mlle Dupain-Cheng, I understand you’ll be attending ESMOD in the Fall.” 

She doesn’t miss the way he enunciates her last name, a clear rejection of her invitation to address her as family. And she’s quite certain that he didn’t learn her university plans from Adrien. She tries not to let her discomfort at the idea that Mr Agreste has been investigating her show. It’s not exactly unexpected even if it is pretty creepy. 

“Yes.” 

“An aspiring fashion designer.” 

“That's right.” 

“You’ve been pursuing my son for years and now you’ve finally caught him. How fortuitous for someone in your position, that he happens to be the face of an international brand, the son of a successful designer, and a famous model in his own right.” 

“Father—” 

“It’s _fortuitous_ ,” Marinette interrupts Adrien, smiling tightly, “because Adrien is a wonderful person. Of course I’m lucky to be marrying him.” 

“You may find the advantages you hoped to acquire with such an advantageous marriage do not materialize.” 

“The only advantage I'm interested in is in marrying someone who is kind, respectful and supportive,” she says. 

“Hm, I have found that Adrien’s willingness to be respectful varies quite a bit and has sadly decreased as he has had more and more exposure to less...refined individuals. I can only hope that you don’t find his other qualities wane during your engagement. But of course, given how young you both are, I’m sure a lengthy engagement will give you plenty of time to decide for yourself whether this path is truly one you wish to pursue.” 

“I don’t need time to decide. I already know exactly who Adrien is and I’m not worried about that changing. Which is a good thing since we’re planning a short engagement.” 

Marinette can’t hide her gleeful smile as Gabriel’s face tightens at this revelation. 

“That seems imprudent,” he says after a lengthy pause. “I suppose I should have expected this, given your rash behaviour as of late, Adrien.” 

“You know we don’t always get as much time with our loved ones as we thought we would have, Father." Marinette is impressed. That's shockingly manipulative. She didn't know Adrien had that in him. "I love Marinette. I want us to have as much time together as possible.” 

“Are you quite certain it is _love_ that motivates you?” 

“I don’t understand,” Adrien says, frowning. 

“It occurs to me why a young couple would rush to wed without consideration for their other responsibilities.” 

Marinette stares. Is Mr Agreste insinuating what it sounds like? 

“Tell me, son,” Mr Agreste says coldly, “have I failed you so completely that you have not taken the most basic steps to protect yourself from entrapment?” 

“I’m not pregnant!” she exclaims. “And I’m not trying to trap Adrien into anything. We’re getting married because we love each other.” 

“I have done my best to protect you from those who would seek to use you for your name and your influence,” Mr Agreste continues, ignoring her outburst. “Yet still you forsake your family to the machinations of a scheming young woman?” 

“Don’t talk about her like that,” Adrien says in a hard quiet voice she’s never heard from him before. 

“I will speak however I choose in my own house. It’s not for you to dictate otherwise.” 

“I can’t control what you think, although I wish you would believe better of us than this. But that doesn’t mean I want to hear you say such awful things, and especially not about Marinette. She’s done nothing to deserve that.” 

“Is this all the respect I am owed after all of these years? My son thinks he may tell his father how he ought to behave.” 

“Father, please. I’m just asking you not to do something that’s hurtful to someone I care about.” 

“Always so sensitive,” Gabriel says, distaste dripping from his voice. “How am I to believe that you’re adult enough to marry when you ask to be coddled like a child?” 

“That’s not what’s happening at all,” Adrien says, and she can hear the strain in his voice. “You made up your mind before we even got here and you’re not even listening. Don’t you want me to be happy? You don’t know Marinette. You don’t even know me. How could you? We never see each other. You’re always too busy for me!” 

“So this is an act of rebellion against my failings as a father, is that it? I see there is no appreciation for the sacrifices I have made for this family. Instead I am to blame for your poor choices. And I’m sure when this marriage inevitably fails, that will be my fault also.” Mr Agreste’s chair is loud against the hard floors as he stands abruptly. “When you speak to me again, it will be with the respect to which I am entitled. And the conversation will begin with the sincere apology due to me.” 

And with that, he quits the room, abandoning his half-eaten salmon along with his son. 

Marinette’s heart feels like it’s being squeezed in her chest. For all that dinner with her parents had been difficult, it was only so hard because they care about her. She’s never doubted that they love her and just want what’s best for her. 

It’s not fair that Adrien, who is so kind and loving, doesn’t get that kind of love and support at home. 

Well, no more. She’s going to be his home now. They can move in together in just two short days, and then she can make sure Adrien gets everything he deserves - an education and friends and freedom and unconditional love. 

He’s going to be happy, dammit. 

Adrien sighs. “I lost my appetite,” he admits. “Do you want to get out of here?” 

She stands in response, pulls him to his feet and hugs him tightly. “Let’s go,” she murmurs into his chest. 

Somehow, Marinette thinks sardonically as they leave the mansion, they find their way out, even without Anais to act as their guide. 

The akuma alert goes off on their phones before they’ve made it a block. 

Marinette sighs. 

Dinner with Mr Agreste was exhausting. She’s not crazy about going from that battle to this one. 

“Looks like our night isn’t over yet,” Adrien groans. 

* * *

“Well, that’s the last of it! Thanks so much for your help,” Marinette says, setting down the cardboard box she’s carrying on top of a stack. Most of them are from her room. Adrien hadn’t had much from his room that he saw as really ‘his’. 

“No problem,” Nino says, flashing her a thumbs up. “It’s what friends are for, right?” 

“Maybe, but we still really appreciate it! It would have taken us forever without you.” 

“Eh, it’s not like you had a lot of stuff, and your dad took care of the heavy lifting.” 

It’s true. For all Maman has made clear she has Concerns about how fast they’re moving and for all Papa is disappointed that there isn’t enough time for them to have the kind of fairytale wedding he wants for them, her parents have respected their decision and offered their support. They even signed as guarantors on the apartment. 

Marinette had worried a little about how they would react when she told them she was moving out, but Maman had just smiled and said she thought it was an excellent idea for them to try living together before the wedding. Papa had single-handedly carried up her trunk and all of her sewing equipment earlier that day, although he’d needed to return to the bakery afterwards, and so had left moving the boxes of personal effects to the teens. 

“Let us take you out for a late lunch to thank you for all your help,” Adrien says. 

“Thanks but nah,” Nino responds. “We’re going to bounce. You probably want to get started unpacking and setting everything up.” 

“And christen the new place,” Alya adds with a wink. 

“Alya!” she sputters, cheeks burning. She can’t bear to look at Adrien to see if he’s as embarrassed as she is. 

Alya just laughs at her. “Please. Like you two haven’t been going at it like bunnies since you finally confessed!” 

“I - that’s not - we’re not - that is—” 

“Girl, you don’t have to be embarrassed. I’m pretty sure everyone knows why you two want to live together right away.” 

“It’s not about that! We’re in _love_ ,” Marinette insists. 

Adrien curls an arm around her waist and pulls her into his side. “Well, I mean, it’s a little bit about that, right?” he purrs in a voice that should be illegal. 

Marinette’s face is on _fire_. 

Now both Nino and Alya are laughing at her. 

“Right, I think that’s our cue to go.” 

She turns and fixes him with a glare after the door has shut behind their friends. “What was that?” 

“Oh come on,” he laughs, letting her go and stepping away. “It was your idea to play up a whirlwind romance. You’re gorgeous. I’m a hot teen model.” He gestures at each of them in turn. “Do you think there’s anyone out there who believes we aren’t having sex?” 

She flushes because he’s right, of course he’s right. If this were real, if they were in love and engaged and moving in together...of course she’d be all over him. But they’re not really like that. And even if they were, it’s still embarrassing to think about other people _knowing_. 

“Time to unpack!” she announces, spinning away from him and seeking out a box at random, while he laughs at her. 

Tikki flies out of her purse. “Oh, I like this place,” she says. “It’s so bright!” 

“It’s alright. You unpack the cheese yet?” Plagg asks, flying up beside his counterpart. 

She still won’t look at Adrien, but she can feel him roll his eyes. “You’ll have to make do with what’s in my messenger bag until we can get out to buy more food.” 

“Maman sent over a packed lunch with Papa,” she tells them. “I guess we can eat now and get to unpacking after.” 

Together they pick at an assortment of fruit, breads, meats and cheeses (with some cookies for Tikki), while sitting at the kitchen counter. 

And just with that act of sharing a meal there, even surrounded by cardboard boxes, somehow it feels like home. 

* * *

Unpacking their belongings takes a few hours. Marinette shouldn’t be surprised, given how long it took to pack it all in the first place, but somehow she thought this part would be easier. The excitement makes up for it at least. Finally, all that’s left is... 

“Where should we keep this?” she asks, holding up the miracle box. 

It looks like a train case, innocuous among all of her sewing supplies. (And hadn’t that been a relief when they finally, _finally_ figured out how to change the appearance of the box to something that wouldn’t give away her identity in half a second to anyone who stumbled upon it.) 

“You don’t want to keep it with your sewing things in the dining room?” 

She wrinkles her nose. “That’s across the apartment from the balcony. If we’re in a tight spot and need help, it will cost us precious seconds.” 

“It’s also probably safest there,” Tikki says reasonably. “It’s tucked away where no one is likely to stumble on it.” 

“Master Fu kept it right out in the open,” Marinette argues. 

Tikki is unpersuaded. “That doesn’t make it the best choice. You need to keep it where it won’t attract attention. Plagg, back me up here.” 

“Eh, I’m sure it’s fine.” Plagg stretches indolently in the air. “Put it wherever you want and then let’s go buy more cheese!” 

“Plagg!” Tikki hisses. 

“What do you think, Adrien?” 

“I mean, you’re the Guardian. It’s your decision...” He hesitates. The balcony is off the bedroom. Between their wardrobes, they’ve already made use of all of the storage in there. “The apartment’s not that big. Do you really think it will make a difference?” 

She frowns, considering. “I guess not.” 

He watches her walk off to the repurposed sewing room. 

“I think we’re going to need to push the shopping to tomorrow,” she says when she gets back. “I thought we’d have time to get groceries at least after we unpacked but I’m exhausted.” 

“You’re always trying to pack too much into a day. It’s okay if it takes us a few days to get it all together.” 

“So...just the fromagerie today?” Plagg interjects. 

“I brought three days’ worth of camembert!” 

“Yeah, it’s gone.” 

“You glutton,” Adrien huffs without any heat. “We’ll order a cheese platter with dinner.” 

* * *

They pick up dinner from a closeby restaurant, and while dining in is a tempting option because it means no clean up and they're pretty tired...they’re reluctant to give up the freedom that their apartment grants them. The freedom to let their kwamis out, the freedom to talk freely, the freedom not to worry about who might be watching them. 

“I think this will be a really good setup for us, actually,” Adrien says. 

They are sitting side by side at the breakfast bar, eating pizza straight out of the box. He loves the informality of it. No stupid-long dining tables or ordered courses or cloth napkins. No worries about proper table manners. And, most importantly, someone to eat with him. 

“Yeah,” Marinette agrees. “Our kwamis won’t have to hide all the time.” 

“Privacy.” 

“You’ll have access to the miracle box.” 

“And we can have meals together,” he says, gesturing with a slice of pizza. 

“No sneaking out to fight akumas.” 

“No sneaking out of the house to see my friends.” 

She bumps her foot against his, and even that little affectionate gesture fills him with warmth. 

“It’s going to be great. We’re going to be happy here.” 

“I know,” he agrees,nudging her foot back. 

“Don’t think I’m going to let you off easy, though.” She pushes the pizza box aside and turns more towards him. She knocks her foot against his again. “You’re gonna have to pull your weight around here.” 

He scoffs, mock offended, and turns more towards her in turn. “What are you trying to say?” He knocks her foot a little harder this time. 

“I’m saying,” she bumps him back, twice in quick succession, “that I bet you’ve never washed a dish in your life.” 

He makes a show of thinking about it. “I’ve washed a beaker. Does that count?” 

“No, you big nerd.” 

“Pretty sure that’s just another word for being really, really smart.” 

“Uh huh.” 

“Gonna put this big brain of mine to use figuring out how to wash dishes. Think I can figure it out? Or maybe I’ll need some di- _rag_ -tion?” 

She groans at the pun. “This sounds a lot like 'Oh Marinette, show me how you vacuum and cook dinner!' And then you watch while I do it all. That’s right, I’m onto you, Agreste.” 

He gasps. “I would never! Equal rights in this household. I’m going to learn how to do it all. I’ll clean by myself, I’ll cook by myself, do the laundry by myself. Why, you’ll be able to say I’m self- _maid_!” 

“You’re terrible.” She bumps his foot. 

“I’m going to learn to clean the mirrors too,” he promises. “It’s a job I can really see myself doing.” 

“I live in fear of the day we face an akumatized cleaner,” she says dryly, but her eyes are sparkling. 

“How can they be akumatized? I hear business is _broom_ ing!” 

“You’re going to need to learn how to take out the garbage,” she teases, knocking her foot against his. “Maybe start with those puns.” 

He leans in towards her. “That’s unfair. You’re making _sweep_ ing generalizations!” 

She taps his nose, but doesn’t back away. “You better _wash_ yourself, kitty.” 

He beams. He loves it when she banters with him. “Sorry, I guess I just got _swept_ away.” 

“Two sweeping puns in a row? You’re slipping.” 

“I’m sorry. If you don’t like it, I’ll _fold_. I’m throwing in the towel.” 

“And yet you keep going.” 

“I’m putting a sock in it right now.” 

She raises an eyebrow at that and he gives her his best innocent look. From the looks of it, she’s not buying it, which is fair. He’s still got a half dozen cleaning and laundry puns he just needs the right set up for. But they’re going to be living together for a while, right? He needs to save something for later. 

When he dutifully remains quiet and doesn’t try to pun at her again, she seems to believe him. 

“You really want to learn all of that stuff?” she asks. 

“Of course,” he says. “We’re partners, right? That means we have to share the _load_.” 

“Adrien!” she laughs, smacking his arm. “I’m trying to be serious here.” 

“That one just slipped out! I seriously want to learn to cook and clean and do laundry.” 

“You want to cook?” 

“Of course,” he says. "It's a skill a husband ought to have, don't you think?" 

She ducks her head bashfully. “I guess so.” 

“Besides, I think I’d make a good house husb—” he breaks off around a yawn, and covers his mouth, embarrassed. 

Marinette yawns too. “It’s been a long day,” she murmurs. 

“We should probably get to bed.” 

“Mm.” 

“Come on, sleepy,” he says, sliding off of his stool and pulling her to her feet. “Time to get ready for bed.” 

* * *

Marinette looks from the bed to Adrien back to the bed again. 

The tiny double bed that cannot possibly be designed for two people. Maybe two child-sized people? She looks back at her very tall and not at all child-sized partner, and bites her lip. 

She... did not think this through. Why didn't she consider the size of the bed before deciding to rent?? 

"Do you have a preference as to side?" Adrien asks. 

He looks completely nonchalant at the idea of sharing that little bed together. Of course he does. He doesn't see her that way anymore. Why would he be uncomfortable? 

Ugh. It's not fair! 

"The right," she answers. Has her voice always been so high pitched? She laughs awkwardly. "Unless you right the want? I can left the take! I mean whatever you want. It's fine!" 

Why can't she ever stop talking? 

Now Adrien just looks concerned. She needs to get a hold of herself! 

"I'm fine with either side," he says, frowning. "Look if you're not comfortable with this, I can sleep on the couch." 

"No!" she blurts. "No, Adrien." The couch is all modern clean lines and not remotely plush. It looks nice and she’s sure they’ll enjoy sitting on it to watch a movie or whatever. But it’s not designed for sleeping on. She sighs. "You're too big to fit. I mean you'll wake up stiff. I mean sore! I mean this isn't a temporary situation. It's - it's fine. I'm just not used to sleeping with you." Her cheeks burn as her words register. "Sharing a bed, I meant sharing a bed!" 

"Okay." He walks over to the left side of the bed, peels back her pink floral bedspread, and climbs in, laying on his back. 

She takes a deep breath. She can do this! 

Slowly, carefully, she pulls back the covers on her side and slides into the bed. 

Her shoulder presses against Adrien's, their bare elbows bumping under the blanket. The bed is too small for anything else and she tries not to think about the fact that she's in bed pressed together with the love of her life. 

"Oh, the light!" Adrien jumps out of bed and turns out the lights. 

He climbs back in, his skin pressing back against hers, and somehow it feels even more intimate in the dark. 

At least he can't see the blush she can feel burning across her face. 

She lays on her back, staring at the ceiling as her eyes adjust, skin heated everywhere it's pressed to his. 

The minutes tick by. 

Is she really supposed to be able to sleep like this? 

He shifts next to her and his leg brushes against hers. It's ridiculous. It's just fabric against fabric. But her leg tingles anyway and her breath catches. 

"Sorry," he whispers. 

"It's fine." She bites her lip. "You're having trouble sleeping too?" 

"Yeah. It's just...a little cramped." 

"This bed isn't really designed for sharing." 

"No," he agrees. 

They fall into silence again. 

It's not like her to be so still. She's used to tossing and turning as she finds the perfect position to fall asleep, but it's different with Adrien next to her. Her leg twitches with the suppressed desire to move. She squirms in place with restless energy. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Just... not really a back sleeper." 

"You can move around if you need to. I don't mind." 

Right. She can do this. She rolls on to her side, towards him. Now both her arms are pressed against his. She takes a breath to steady herself and breathes in his scent. 

Nope. 

Nope nope nope nope nope. 

Quickly she rolls the other way. That presses her bum right up against him. She jerks away, and falls right out of bed. 

"Marinette!" 

"Ow." 

She's pretty sure she hears snickering from the cupboard above them their kwamis have claimed as their own. She ignores it. 

"Are you okay?" Adrien asks, hands holding onto the edge of the mattress, looking down at where she's sprawled on the floor in all her undignified glory. 

"This bed is really, really not designed for sharing," she laments. 

"We'll buy a new one. That should be okay since it's an upgrade, right? We can go first thing in the morning." 

She doesn’t bother pointing out that there’s no way the room will accommodate a bigger bed. 

"Are you sure you don't want me to sleep on the couch?" he asks, looking at her with worried eyes. 

"It's fine." She's being ridiculous and that’s not fair to him. They're friends. She can handle this. 

She climbs back into the bed and he backs up onto his side to make space for her. Or, well, he tries anyway. There isn't much. 

"Would it help if we...um. Cuddled?" 

"What?" 

"I just - it would help us fit better. Maybe? And, um, it might help you fall asleep? Touch pressure can help you relax... right?" 

She stares at him in disbelief. 

How likely is it that pressing herself up against Adrien will help her relax? She can barely handle even the tiny brushes against him! 

"Just... here," he says, sliding closer to her in the tiny bed. He slips one arm behind her back and coaxes her to curl into his side with her head on his chest. He wraps the other arm around her and holds her firmly but gently against him. 

_Oh_. 

This is... really nice. Like really, really nice. 

She feels warm and safe and cherished. 

Her right hand grips his t-shirt and her left arm wraps around him in turn. She buries her face in his chest and breathes him in. 

Even his scent is a comfort like this, filling her lungs with every breath, and together with his heartbeat in her ear, quick at first and then slowing into a calm, steady rhythm... 

Against her every expectation, she relaxes into him. 

As she drifts off to sleep she thinks she could get used to this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for bed-sharing (sorrynotsorry). Would love to hear your thoughts! All of the comments have been super-motivating and really help my mental state as my area is in lockdown once again.
> 
> Coming up next: more living together shenanigans. I'm sure they'll be fine lol


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So how’s living together?”
> 
> “It’s great!” Marinette says as they head down the stairs into the aquarium. “The apartment is great, living together is great, Adrien is great! It’s just...really great!”
> 
> Nailed it.

_Since their reveal, Marinette was so much lighter._

_True to his word, whenever she needed him, Adrien was there._

_As Chat Noir, he understood Ladybug on a primal level, and he quickly applied that knowledge to Marinette. Whenever she started to feel overwhelmed or lost in her head, there he was, squeezing her shoulders and reminding her that he believed in her, making terrible puns that had her covering up her giggles with groans. He showed up on her balcony at least every other night to check in on her. He texted her in the mornings to make sure she was up and wouldn't be late for school. He helped cover for her when they missed class because of akuma attacks, and he was her study buddy as they figured out the missed work together._

_Plus, knowing that Adrien wasn't perfect, that he could be silly and a dork and all of the things she knew Chat Noir to be_ _... It settled the part of her that fried her brain and turned her words into soup around him._

_Her understanding of Chat Noir was also improved. She knew, now, why he spent so much time transformed, why he took every opportunity to be as silly and outlandish as possible._

_Both boys came together to show her the whole._

_She liked to think the reveal had benefited him too. With this secret no longer between them, he confided in her. He trusted her with his sadness over the loss of his mother, his frustration with his father's overprotectiveness, and his worries over Nathalie's declining health. There wasn't anything she could do to help, but he seemed to appreciate her listening anyway._

_And even if it was still hard to see him with someone else, she was handling it. With the rest of her load lightened, the heartache was easier to bear. And even though it hurt, she was glad to see him happy._

_Except he didn't seem happy at all at the moment, as he landed on her balcony and detransformed. His shoulders were slumped and the smile he gave her in greeting barely moved his lips, never mind reaching his eyes._

_“Hey,” she said gently, getting up from her lounge chair and joining him at the rail. She pulled at his shoulder to get him to look at her. “What’s wrong?”_

_“Kagami broke up with me.”_

_“Oh.”_

_A tiny thrill went through her, quickly chased by a rush of guilt. They were her friends. It was wrong to be happy about this._

_“I don’t understand. Why would Kagami break up with you?”_

_How could anyone want to break up with Adrien? He was wonderful._

_He gave a little shrug and she let her hand fall. “Remember the fight at Sacré-Coeur last week?” At her sound of agreement, he continued, “We were on a date when it happened. She...didn’t appreciate being ditched.”_

_“Surprise photoshoot?” she offered his usual excuse._

_“Father and Mme Tsurugi were meeting at the time,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m pretty sure she would have found out I was lying if I’d tried it. And with the fight across the city I couldn’t exactly say I got caught up in the attack.”_

_“I’m sorry.” She took a breath for strength and pressed on. “I’m sure we can fix this. You can blame me. Say I needed your help with something really embarrassing and you were just trying to spare me the humiliation of anyone knowing. Embarrassing things happen to me all the time. That’s believable.”_

_His laugh was a harsh, unhappy thing. “I don’t think telling Kagami I ditched her for you will fix this.” He sighed. “I don’t think there’s any fixing this at all. She said that I’m not invested in the relationship and_ _—_ _” He broke off to rub at his face. “Well, she made it pretty clear she was finished.”_

_“I’m sorry,” she said helplessly. “Is there anything I can do?”_

_“This is good,” he whispered, leaning against her._

_She wrapped an arm around him, let him rest his head against her shoulder. It was a little strange to be the one supporting him like this when he was so much taller than she was, she was sure this couldn’t possibly be comfortable for him, but he didn’t move away and neither did she._

_Her attempts to comfort him did little to alleviate her guilt. She shouldn’t be relieved that Adrien had gotten his heart broken again, but she was. She was a terrible person. A terrible friend._

_As much as she had tried (and she had tried really,_ really _hard), she wasn’t over him. If anything, between learning Adrien was Chat Noir (her best friend!) and his amazing support for her on both sides of the mask, she had only fallen for him that much harder._

_Of course she did. How could she not?_

_Guilt made her try to push the thought down, but it kept bubbling up, over and over again._

_Was it foolish to hope that, now that things had ended with Kagami, he would consider her again?_

* * *

Adrien wakes to Marinette’s leg across his thigh, her arm across his throat, her hair in his face (in his _mouth_ ). His shoulder feels damp (is that drool?) and his back is sore.

It’s not exactly what he imagined when he thought about sharing a bed with the love of his life, he thinks as he spits out the mouthful of hair and gently removes her arm from where it’s cutting off his air supply.

She rolls with the movement in her sleep, flopping onto her back, the arm that was strangling him curling over her head.

He pushes himself up onto his elbow so that he can look at her.

There’s nothing graceful or peaceful about the picture she presents with her limbs all akimbo, her mouth open, and hair stuck to her face.

And yet…

His heart flutters at seeing her like this, soft and vulnerable in sleep.

He brushes the hair out of her face with tender fingers.

It might not be at all like his fantasies. (Those involved waking up in each other’s arms and good morning kisses and how those kisses might progress and— Not the kind of thing Adrien should be thinking about when they're in bed together.) But it’s real and sweet and he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

And last night…

He fought sleep for as long as he could, not wanting to miss a moment. Marinette fit in his arms like they were made to hold her. 

Since his mom disappeared, physical affection has been in short supply at home. His father is not physically demonstrative. Things improved a bit when he started school. He had hugs and fist bumps with Nino, and then casual touches with Ladybug when he was suited up. He was gratified when those carried over to his friendship with Marinette after the reveal.

And then the last few weeks...he’s probably enjoyed all the physical contact more than he should.

But last night...cuddling together in the dark with the weight of her head on his chest, the smell of her shampoo in his nose, and the heart-stopping pressure of her leg thrown over his in her sleep?

He’s certain the memory of that alone could hold off an akuma.

Adrien tried to stay awake so that he could experience that perfection as long as possible, but he’s just not that strong. Before he knew it, the sound of her steady breathing had lulled him to sleep. 

He stands and the kwamis fly out of their cupboard to join him. He presses a finger to his lips and gestures to Marinette in explanation.

Tikki giggles. “We don’t have to be quiet,” she assures him. “Trust me, Marinette can sleep through anything.”

Of course.

He casts one last, fond look at her sleeping in their bed ( _their bed!_ ) and then heads out in search of breakfast.

* * *

“What do you mean Adrien’s missing?” Gabriel hisses, glaring at Anais where she stands before him.

She doesn’t flinch. “He wasn’t in his bedroom this morning and, when I assessed the situation, I discovered that most of his clothing and other personal belongings were absent.”

“He moved out?”

“It appears that way, sir.”

His hands clench into fists. How dare he? It’s bad enough that Adrien left without asking permission, as he ought to have done, but to show so little respect as to not even tell Gabriel he was leaving? It’s unthinkable. 

Gabriel miscalculated the other day, he can admit that much. His attempts at provoking Mlle Dupain-Cheng were far more effective at provoking his son than his target. 

That was...unanticipated. 

Gabriel didn’t manage Adrien’s oversensitivity effectively, but how could he stay and allow his son to speak to him in such a way? Such disrespectful behaviour is not to be tolerated!

This is all Mlle Dupain-Cheng’s fault. She has beguiled Adrien, overtaken his good sense, made him forget where his loyalties ought to lie.

Furthermore, not only did he fail to akumatize Mlle Dupain-Cheng yet again, but he has lost one of his few leverages with Adrien leaving the house.

He underestimated her. He needs a new strategy to break her hold on Adrien, break _her_.

In the meantime, he needs to ensure that his reckless son doesn’t jeopardize their family’s interests.

“Anais, find out where my son is and proceed with the marriage contingency plans.”

“Yes, sir.”

* * *

Marinette comes to consciousness slowly, her dream trying to pull her back under over and over, confusing her mind as to what’s real until she opens her eyes.

She rubs at her face, crinkling her nose at the feel of dried drool on her chin. _Gross_. She hopes Adrien didn’t see that.

Adrien!

She jerks upright, but she’s alone in the bed. Bright sunshine comes in through the glass doors leading out to the balcony. Muffled noises filter in through the bedroom door from the rest of the apartment. She flounders around for her phone on the night table.

It’s after ten. No wonder.

She exhales slowly.

She did it. She survived her first night with Adrien.

She can do this. 

She climbs out of bed and heads out into the apartment, finding Adrien reclining on the couch, the kwamis floating around his head.

When he sees her, he breaks off what he was saying and grins.

“Oh, good morning, sleepyhead!” he drawls. 

“Coffee,” she grunts.

“We don’t have any.”

“Marinette’s not very good with mornings,” Tikki stage-whispers.

“I know.” He grins.

She pouts. “Let’s go get coffee.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to get dressed first, _Pajama Girl_?” he asks innocently.

“It’s too early for this,” she groans, turning around and heading to get dressed, while Adrien, Tikki and Plagg laugh at her.

* * *

“You’re really okay with me hanging this here for anyone to see?” Adrien asks, holding up the large poster he’d picked up during their earlier shopping. It features an apron-wearing cat working dough and reads “KITTZY BISCUITS. WE KNEAD EM. YOU NEED EM.” A cat, puns and a reference to something Marinette likes as well? He had to have it.

“Of course,” Marinette responds. “This is your place too. I think it will look nice if we put it in the middle and add some pictures with our friends on either side.”

Adrien’s never been allowed to decorate his own space before. He’s sure Father’s interior decorators would hate it, but he’s thrilled at getting to choose things he loves to surround him.

“Shame we can’t have any pictures of you two,” Adrien says as Tikki passes him a piece of tape. “Maybe Marinette could draw one?”

“That’s a bad idea, considering so many of our friends have used a miraculous and would recognize a kwami.”

He winces. “I forgot about that.”

There’s a knock at the door.

“Is that my cheese? It sure took them long enough,” Plagg complains from the couch. “It’s been hours. I’m wasting away here. No more brie. No more gruyere. No more—” he chokes “— _camembert_!”

Adrien rolls his eyes at Plagg’s theatrics. “We only just updated the order information,” he says, heading to the door while Plagg zips out of sight. He glances around, but Tikki is already hidden.

He answers the door and, instead of the expected delivery person, finds Anais standing with an unfamiliar woman. The woman is wearing a suit and carrying a large black leather tote. She gives off the same no-nonsense vibe he associates with Gabriel employees.

“Hi?” he says, unable to keep his surprise out of his voice.

“May we come in?”

Adrien doesn’t particularly want to, but he finds himself stepping aside for them anyway.

Anais looks around the living room with clear distaste. “Does this...apartment...have a table? We have business to discuss.”

“There’s the dining room,” he offers.

“That will do.”

“Marinette?” he questions, turning to her.

“It’s not necessary for Mlle Dupain-Cheng to join us.”

Adrien stops and crosses his arms. “Whatever you want to say to me can be discussed with Marinette.”

Anais purses her lips, but before she can chastise him as Adrien expects, the stranger interjects.

“I don’t have any issue with Mlle Dupain-Cheng joining us if that’s what Mr Agreste wishes. But all parties need to be clear that I have been retained to represent Mr Agreste’s interests only. Mlle Dupain-Cheng, you should retain your own lawyer for independent legal advice.”

Adrien and Marinette exchange curious glances.

“What?” Marinette asks.

“Mme Roque is a lawyer with Leblanc Vopel,” Anais says. Adrien vaguely recognizes the name of the firm. “If the two of you intend to marry, certain legalities will need to be seen to.”

Adrien’s not sure he likes where this is going, but he dutifully leads them to the dining room.

The awkwardness intensifies when he and Marinette need to move the sewing machine, then pull the table out from where they had pushed it up against the wall and rearrange the chairs back around it. Adrien’s just glad the desk they bought is being delivered and doesn’t need to be worked around.

Once they’re all seated, Mme Roque begins. “As I said, Mr Agreste’s father has retained my firm to represent his interests with respect to your pending nuptials. Congratulations to you both.”

“Adrien’s fine.” Being called Mr Agreste makes him feel like they’re talking about his father.

Mme Roque nods in acknowledgment. “I specialize in handling high profile marriages involving significant assets. I’ve taken the liberty of preparing the standard documents we would expect in a situation like yours: the marriage contract, of course, but also confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements.”

He looks over at Marinette to try to get a sense of what she thinks of all this. He can tell she’s tense, but that’s no surprise. He’s tense too, having this thrown at them with no warning.

“I think a marriage contract is a good idea, actually,” Marinette says and he frowns. He thought they’d settled that argument. “What does this one say?”

“Let’s go through it together.” Mme Roque pulls several documents out of her tote, passing copies to each of them. 

She takes them through the marriage contract. It starts out pretty straight forward but as she goes on, he can see his father’s hand in this. 

There’s a clause regarding the separation of property, keeping everything they own prior to the marriage separate. This wouldn’t bother him so much except the next clause specifies that everything they acquire during the marriage is to be kept separate too.

Then there’s a clause limiting their inheritance rights, eliminating their inheritance from each other entirely if one of them dies before they have children.

It’s like his father instructed Mme Roque to draft a document that would make their marriage as little like a marriage as possible.

“Mlle Dupain-Cheng is not to assume the Agreste family name as her married name or otherwise,” Mme Roque explains as she points to the corresponding clause.

“Excuse me?” Adrien blurts.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not changing my name,” Marinette says.

“That is not the point,” he says, glaring across the table at Anais. Since his father isn’t here, his proxy will have to do.

“The Agreste name carries a great deal of influence, especially in the world of fashion. This is a reasonable limitation to prevent brand confusion as Mlle Dupain-Cheng pursues her ambitions,” Anais says neutrally.

“Maybe I should take her last name,” he snaps. “There’s nothing in here against that, right?”

“Adrien,” Marinette says softly, but he continues to glare across the table.

“No,” Mme Roque says, looking unsettled. “That wasn’t something we had considered.” She pauses, looking around the table. “Your father retained us to prepare the documents, but a marriage contract is a contract between husband and wife. Your father is not a party to the agreement. It is common in my work for parents to retain our services for their adult children in similar situations, but my role here is to represent your interests, Adrien.”

“I’m not _interested_ in a marriage that looks like this.”

“Adrien, it’s fine,” Marinette says.

He frowns at her. He knows their marriage won’t be real, but even considering a contract like this feels disrespectful. Even if she doesn’t feel entitled to his money, he means to compensate her for all of the trouble she’s taking on for him.

What do they need expensive lawyers and lengthy marriage contracts for anyway? Even if they’re going to have to divorce eventually, he trusts her. Besides, even if she was after his money, the trust will provide more than he’ll ever need, even split two ways.

“I can see the two of you need to discuss. Why don’t I leave the contracts with you to review—here’s my card—and you can contact me when you’re ready?” Mme Roque suggests.

“That would be great, thanks,” Marinette says.

Anais frowns. “Mr Agreste will not be pleased, Adrien.”

“He never is.”

* * *

When they’ve left and the apartment is their own once again, Adrien turns to Marinette. “Okay, that was awful, but the name thing gave me an idea.”

She sits down on the couch wearily. “You can’t be serious about taking my name.”

“Hm? Oh.” He shrugs sheepishly. “I was being petty, hoping Anais would take that back to my father. Sorry if it made you uncomfortable. No, the name thing made me think of something else. The wedding! I bet there’ll be some kind of coverage and any pictures we share will get spread. It’s the perfect opportunity for you to show off your designs! I mean, if you want.”

She frowns. “You want me to take advantage of your fame?”

“I want you to benefit from the exposure,” he says, sitting down next to her. “If the world’s going to see you, shouldn’t it be in something of your own making?”

He has a point, but there’s something about doing what Mr Agreste has accused her of that doesn’t sit right with her. Like all she cares about are Adrien’s _advantages_ instead the wonderful person he is.

“I think it’s a great idea!” Tikki says, nuzzling her cheek. Marinette cups her close, grateful for her encouragement. “Your designs are beautiful, Marinette.”

“I don’t know…”

“I, for one, would love to get married wearing a Marinette Dupain-Cheng original.” He leans into her shoulder briefly, playfully. “Hey, come on. You know you’re helping me out here. You don’t need to feel guilty about letting it benefit you too.”

“Everyone’s probably expecting you to get married wearing Gabriel fashion,” Plagg says, smirking. “Don’t you want to stick it to him?”

Well when he puts it like _that_. 

Her lips pull into a little smirk of her own. “Okay,” she says. “Two wedding outfits, coming up.”

* * *

Adrien and Marinette are supposed to meet Alya and Nino for a double date at Cinéaqua. They agreed to meet right when it opens since it's in a touristy area, but they need to leave soon and Marinette still isn’t awake.

“I should wake her, right?”

Tikki smiles. “You know what she’s like in the mornings. Don’t worry, I have a lot of experience dragging Marinette out of bed.”

“I’ve got it,” he says, getting up off the couch and heading towards the bedroom. 

If she hurries, they shouldn’t be too late.

“Hey buga—” Adrien starts in a sing-song voice, pushing through the bedroom door and cutting off abruptly as he takes in the scene in front of him.

Skin.

So much skin.

Forget his face, his entire body _burns_.

“Gah!” Marinette yelps, arms flailing wildly, flush spreading from her cheeks down her chest to disappear behind her pink polka dotted br—

That snaps him out of it, and he whips around covering his eyes.

"I’m sorry, I should've knocked,” he cries, rushing from the room.

"You should have knocked!" she yells after him.

He shuts the door behind him and leans against it. His whole body feels hot and tight, the image of Marinette in her underwear seared into his memory.

Plagg cackles at him. “Now that's what I call entertainment.” 

“I should have knocked,” he murmurs.

* * *

They ride the metro together in silence. By the time they get off at Trocadero they can still barely look at each other. Marinette knows she needs to calm down and get over this. They live together now. These kinds of things are going to happen. He didn’t even really see anything! It’s not like she was naked.

But - it’s Adrien.

As they cross the gardens towards the aquarium entrance, where she thinks she can just make out Alya and Nino waiting for them, she chances a glance at Adrien.

He’s wearing one of his fake smiles and it’s obvious to her that he’s agitated.

She sighs. They can’t meet up with their friends with this tension between them. Especially not around Alya super-journalist-who-loves-to-dig-into-her-friends’-business Césaire.

“I’m not mad at you,” she says.

“I’m so sorry,” he blurts. “I thought you were sleeping. I didn’t mean to—”

“I know you didn’t. I’m just embarrassed.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” Adrien insists. “I’m embarrassed. I’m the one who invaded your privacy.”

“It was an accident. Just...maybe knock next time?”

He nods eagerly. “Yes, of course,” he agrees. He hesitates, rubbing the back of his neck. “Are we okay?”

“We’re fine,” she says just before they reach Alya and Nino. She needs to keep her cool. They don’t need their friends worrying or worse - suspicious.

They’ve barely finished greeting each other when Alya asks, a teasing lilt to her voice, “So how’s living together?”

“It’s great!” Marinette says as they head down the stairs into the aquarium. “The apartment is great, living together is great, Adrien is great! It’s just...really great!”

Nailed it.

Alya raises an eyebrow. “But would you say it’s great?”

Adrien chuckles. “It’s a bit of an adjustment,” he says easily as they join the ticket queue. “We’re both only children so I think we have to get used to sharing a space. But yeah, it’s great getting to spend so much more time together.” He takes her hand and winks at her before turning his eyes to their friends, continuing in a sly voice. “Maybe you two should think about it.”

Alya snorts. “Not all of us can afford the Parisian rental market.”

“Maybe,” Nino says at the same time.

“Maybe?” Alya echoes.

“Well, I mean, I’m not about to get into a race with these two, but eventually? I kind of figured…” Nino trails off.

Alya beams at him and Marinette marvels at Adrien’s skillful redirection of the conversation.

They reach the counter, buy their tickets, and head in.

They make their way through the aquarium, taking in tank after tank full of fish in all kinds of vibrant hues as well as other aquatic life. They turn the corner to head to the next exhibit, and Marinette comes face to face with herself.

Well, Ladybug.

There’s a large poster of the old team: her and Chat Noir, but also Rena Rouge, Carapace and Queen Bee. 

“Those jellyfish are so cool! Can you imagine being out in the water and—” Alya cuts off abruptly beside her as she sees it.

None of them says anything for several beats.

It still makes her sad, sometimes, that she can’t call the other heroes in. And there have definitely been fights when they could have used them. It’s been hard, but she knows it was the right choice. Even if it disappointed her friends.

“Rena Rouge and Carapace were really cool,” she says to fill the tense silence.

“Yeah, they were, weren’t they?” Alya smiles. “Plus Carapace was pretty cute.”

Marinette and Adrien exchange knowing smirks as Nino ducks his head bashfully.

“Personally I think—Hey!” she yelps as she’s knocked forward by someone crashing into her from behind. She faceplants into Adrien’s chest, and his arms come up to catch her. The woman who knocked into her doesn’t pause, doesn’t apologize or even look back as she continues running in the direction Marinette just came from. 

The hair on the back of Marinette’s neck stands up. She turns in the direction the woman came from and yup, more people running this way. She’s been in this business long enough to know what that means.

She feels Adrien’s hands tense where they still rest on her waist. He’s been in this business long enough to know what that means too.

“We need to get out of here,” he says. “Something _fishy_ ’s going on here.”

“Really?” she groans, but he’s right that the attack is strange. There’s no screaming. In fact, the people running by are all completely silent. Another voice-stealing akuma?

Unfortunately, not only is Alya every bit as quick at recognizing an akuma attack, but her reaction is always to run towards it instead of away to safety like a normal, reasonable person.

“Alya!” she calls, but Alya’s already disappeared around the next bend in the path, dragging Nino behind her.

It’s times like this she really wishes she could have let her friends keep their miraculouses. At least they’d have some protection that way. (And she’s not going to lie, there are times when they could really use the help.)

Adrien grabs her hand as they turn and run in the opposite direction. They passed a little theater room a minute ago. It’s probably empty now and as good a place to transform as any.

“Is it just me,” he says as they run, “or have an awful lot of the attacks been happening right where we are?”

“You noticed that too?” She’d been hoping she was seeing coincidences where there are none.

“Do you think he’s figured us out?”

“...I hope not.”

“Worry about that later, right now you need to transform!” Tikki admonishes.

But the thought distracts her through the entire battle, and hours later, after they’ve won, after they’ve restored everything, after they’ve resumed and then finished their double date, she’s absolutely certain of one thing.

Hawkmoth is targeting them.

She’s just not sure how or why.

* * *

It’s been over a week now since Marinette moved out and Sabine hasn’t heard from her at all, aside from a couple of texts (in response to texts Sabine sent, mind you.) She knows they’re probably still caught up in the excitement of it all and enjoying the honeymoon phase, but still. She’s a mother; she worries.

It’s not just the lack of communication that concerns her. It’s the entire situation.

Marinette is prone to overthinking, if anything. For her to be jumping from friendship to dating to an engagement to marriage so quickly...well, it feels very out of character. She knows her daughter tends to get lost in romantic fantasies, but she wouldn’t have expected her to act on them like this.

Granted, love can do that to a person.

Still, there’s no harm in checking in.

Just as she reaches the door to the apartment building, another tenant is leaving. He sees her, small and unassuming and with her arms full, and kindly holds the door for her.

Well, that’s not great for security. She’ll talk to them about adding an extra lock to their door, just to be safe.

Adrien answers her knock at the door. He’s clearly surprised before he schools his features into a welcoming smile and gestures her into the apartment.

“Hi dear,” she says. “Now that you and Marinette have had a little time to settle in I thought I would bring over a little housewarming gift.” She lifts the bag a little.

“Oh, allow me,” he says and takes it from her.

“We should get that to the kitchen. Some of it needs to be refrigerated.” She looks around at the apartment as they walk over. This is her first time here, she’d needed to stay behind at the bakery on moving day. She’s pleased to see that it’s a nice space and that they’ve kept it relatively tidy. “Why don’t I unpack this for you while you get Marinette?”

“Oh, um, actually Marinette is with Alya and the girls at the pool,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, I can text her. She must have forgotten you were coming over.”

“Oh, no, dear. That’s my fault. I should have let her know first, but business was slow today, so when I saw the chance to get away I took it!” She smiles brightly. “That’s alright, it will give us a chance to get to know each other a little better.”

Although Adrien has been her daughter’s friend for a number of years now, she doesn’t know him very well. Not nearly so well as she’d like to, now that he’s joining her family. She knows Marinette was seriously infatuated with him in collège, of course. It would have been hard to miss with how she plastered his pictures all over her room, although that stopped at some point. And of course she hadn’t missed the way they’d look at each other when they thought no one was looking. But it didn’t seem like anything was ever going to happen. She noticed that he was polite and well-spoken whenever he was over, but beyond that...

She didn’t pay close enough attention or make enough of an effort to get to know him. She regrets that now.

Well, she can’t change the past, but she can make better choices going forward.

She turns to him as they put away the last of the food she brought. “You didn’t go to the pool with Marinette?” At his questioning looks she elaborates, “Aren’t you at that stage where couples want to do everything together?”

“Oh, um, no? Or yes? Or - I mean, she said it was a girls day and she didn’t invite me so I didn’t even think— Should I have gone? Do couples really need to do everything together?”

He’s so flustered. Her heart softens.

“No, of course not,” she tells him kindly. “It’s actually very healthy for a couple to maintain their independence and relationships with other people.”

That was one of her worries, actually. That all of this was a warning sign that Marinette could find herself isolated from her family and friends.

“I guess you would know,” he says, smiling. “You and Mr Dupain have been married a long time I bet.”

She nods. “Twenty-two years. We were together almost five years when we married though.”

“I know we haven’t been dating all that long but—”

“I didn’t come here to lecture you about moving too quickly,” she interjects quickly. 

“You’re not going to try to convince us to wait?” he asks doubtfully.

“Would it persuade you if I did?” she asks curiously. He ducks his head and she continues, “I’ve said my piece and you’re both adults. I trust you each to make the decision that’s best for you.”

“Really?”

In her experience, badgering someone about a topic isn’t a good way to persuade them. 

“Really. I’m happy to talk to you about marriage and relationships if that’s something that you want, but that’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to spend a little time with the both of you.”

“Marinette should be back soon.”

She smiles as an idea occurs to her. “How are you in the kitchen, Adrien?”

“Marinette’s taught me how to make some simple things, like eggs and pasta, but I’m still really new to it,” he admits.

She’s reminded that Adrien lost his mother several years ago. It doesn’t sound like there’s been anyone in his life to teach him these kinds of life skills until now.

“Do you want to learn how to make mapo tofu? I brought the ingredients. It’s a favourite of hers.”

His face lights up. “I’d love that.”

“I hope you aren’t put off by spicy food,” she warns.

“We didn’t eat many spicy dishes at home,” he admits. “I’m definitely on the milder side of the scale, but I’ve liked some of what I’ve tried. Marinette likes spicy? I always thought she had more of a sweet tooth.”

“Mm,” Sabine confirms. “She can’t quite handle as much spice as we’d traditionally use, but she definitely has a taste for it. That’s probably my fault. You need to build up a tolerance and I just don’t make it enough.”

He smiles softly. “Tell me more?”

“You want to hear more stories about Marinette growing up?”

“I want to know everything about her,” he says, and there’s a genuineness to him and a softness to his eyes that speaks to her.

“You really love her.”

“Yeah, I do.”

Sabine believes him.

She smiles. “Then you and I will be just fine.”

* * *

When Marinette returns to the apartment, she's immediately assaulted with the spicy, mouth-watering aroma of her mother’s cooking, and the sight of Adrien and Maman, working side by side at the stove. 

They're clearly having a good time, laughing and working in sync. Maman points to an ingredient and murmurs instructions and Adrien adds them to the pan and continues stirring. 

Her heart squeezes in her chest. 

"Hey," she says loudly enough to be heard over the fan. "What's going on here?"

"Your mom is teaching me how to make mapo tofu!"

"It smells amazing," Marinette says. 

Maman takes a clean spoon from the drawer, scoops a bite out of the pan, and, after blowing on it, offers it to Marinette.

"’at's rea’y goo’," she says around her mouthful of tongue-numbing yumminess. She swallows. "Could use a bit more kick, but otherwise it's just like Maman's!"

Adrien nods sheepishly. "Your spice tolerance is higher than mine."

“We’ll have to work on that.” She pats his cheek teasingly. 

"I look forward to it."

"I'll teach you how to make congee next, so you can make it for Marinette when she's sick," Maman says. 

He smiles brightly. "I'd love that. Thanks, Sabine!"

He looks so happy. She drops a kiss on Maman's cheek in quiet thanks as she reaches around her to the cabinet. 

"I'll go set the table."

* * *

“You seem stressed, bug,” Adrien says, sliding into the little bit of space left where Marinette is hogging the couch. She’s laying down with her legs draped over the side. He lifts her head gently so that he doesn’t pin her hair (and to make a little more room for himself), and she rests her head against his thigh.

She sighs and puts her phone down.

“I think Hawkmoth is targeting us.”

“You’re still thinking about that?”

She nods, the movement rubbing her head against his leg, and sending her hair in different directions. “I’m really worried.”

He runs a hand through her hair, smoothing it back down again, and hopefully giving her some comfort in the process.

“It might just be a coincidence. Remember collège? Every other member of our class was akumatized at some point, but nothing ever came of it.”

“Maybe…” She doesn’t sound convinced.

“He can’t have figured out our identities. He’d be attacking way more aggressively.”

She puffs out a frustrated breath, which sends her bangs floating briefly. How is she so adorable?

“I’ve just got a really bad feeling about this.”

“Whatever happens, we’ll handle it together.”

“I know,” she says, rubbing her face. “I just hate not knowing what he’s up to!”

He doesn’t say anything, just smoothes her hair over and over the way she likes, the way he knows calms her down. 

After another minute of this, she says, “While we’re talking about stressful topics, let’s figure out this wedding.”

“Okay,” Adrien agrees easily.

“I know we talked a bit about keeping it small, but exactly how small do we want it?”

“Well, who do you want to invite?”

She bites her lip and he resumes combing his fingers through her hair. 

“I don’t know. It feels wrong to put the people who care about us to trouble for a wedding that isn’t even real, but at the same time I don’t want anyone to be hurt or offended. I mean, I still have a lot of family in China, but I can’t ask them to travel all this way!”

“The smaller we keep it, the less anyone will take it personally.”

“My grandpa is local though, so I think I have to invite him, which means I have to invite my grandma, but she’s traveling again, so she probably won’t make it. But what if she does?”

“She’s always traveling, isn’t she? So it’s not like more travel will be a big burden for her.”

“I guess.” She exhales noisily. “What about your family?”

“I mean, I’ll invite Father of course, but I don’t know if he’ll come.” The thought stings but he pushes it aside. He’s not responsible for how Father feels. “Aside from that, there’s just my Aunt Amelie and Félix.” Adrien laughs when Marinette’s nose wrinkles at that. “My aunt is my mother’s sister, so I would want to invite her, but I’m not going to subject you to someone who tried to force himself on you.” 

He’d been willing to forgive Félix for his terrible behaviour that day until he’d learned he’d tried to force a kiss on his lady while pretending to be Adrien. He’s glad that, even though Adrien and Marinette weren’t close then, she still knew him well enough to know that he would never do that. None of that excuses Félix however.

“I might’ve been willing to let that go if he hadn’t pretended to be you again last time he came to visit,” she says, frowning.

“It’s a good thing you know me so well.”

“Do you think your aunt will come without your cousin?”

“I don’t know. We’re not exactly close.” 

He might get married without a single family member there. That...sucks.

“Well, since we’re not inviting a lot of family, we probably don’t want to go overboard inviting friends, otherwise it’s sure to cause drama.”

“We have to invite Nino and Alya!” he exclaims. He can handle his family’s absence, but not his best friends’.

“Of course we are. I’m just not sure how many other friends we want to invite…”

He shrugs. “Well, there’s Kagami, but she’s in Japan with her mother right now and, like you said, it’s a lot to ask someone to travel for this.”

“Plus she is your ex-girlfriend. It might be a little weird.”

That has him sitting up straight, alarmed. He jostles Marinette’s head in the process, and she sits up and turns to face him.

“What? You don’t think it’s weird to invite your ex-girlfriend to your wedding?”

“We’re still friends though,” he insists. “I mean, I’m going to be your ex-husband one day. Does that mean I’m going to be left off the guestlist when you get married for real?”

“I can’t even imagine it right now,” she says. “Who even knows when that will be or what will happen between now and then?”

That stings. He doesn’t relish the idea of watching her marry someone else one day, but the idea of being shut out of part of her life is worse.

“Well, you better invite me.”

“So back to the guestlist,” Marinette says, continuing on like he hasn’t spoken. “Maybe we can invite—”

“Marinette, I’m serious,” he cuts in, feeling desperate. “You’re my best friend. I don’t want things to be weird after.”

She doesn’t say anything and his panic intensifies. He can handle her not being in love with him. He can’t handle losing her friendship.

“Did I screw up asking you to do this?”

There’s something sad in the way she looks at him before she shakes her head. “Of course not,” she promises. “It’s just a little weird. I guess hearing ‘ex-husband’ freaked me out a little bit.”

“But we’re going to be okay, right? You’re not - you’re going to invite me when you get married, right?”

“Yeah. ‘Course.” Her smile is a little too wide.

“You promise?” he asks and wishes he could disappear into the couch cushions. What a stupid, childish thing to ask. Why doesn’t he whine about his other insecurities while he’s at it.

She reaches out and grabs his hand, giving it a squeeze before she arranges it so that their pinkies are linked. “I promise we’re going to be okay,” she says firmly.

The knot in his chest loosens and he allows himself to breathe.

* * *

_Adrien had always wanted to get to know Marinette better. She was so sweet, so charismatic, so amazing. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with her?_

_Now he’d finally gotten his wish, but it was a double-edged sword._

_Because now that he knew her..._

_He'd tried to get over Ladybug. He'd_ been _getting over her. And then she had to turn out to be Marinette._

_And not only was she Marinette, but she was accessible to him in a way she'd never been before. Suddenly she was more comfortable around him, more open with him._

_He only fell deeper._

_Between his stubborn heart and his overbooked schedule, his fledgling relationship with Kagami never stood a chance._

_It wasn’t fair to her. She was so wonderful, direct and honest, a strong exterior covering a soft heart. She deserved more. She should have someone who loved her the way she deserved to be loved._

_Not someone who had to try._

_Not Adrien._

_By some miracle, she’d agreed to try to stay friends. He was terrified that that might still fall apart, and he’d lose yet another person who was important to him._

_If he couldn’t move on, then he wouldn’t even try. Not when the cost could be an important friendship._

_He couldn’t take that risk again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Adrien's cat poster is real.](https://www.redbubble.com/i/poster/Kitty-Biscuits-by-Pauldaly/51181286.LVTDI) The Miraculous Team poster at the aquarium is real too!
> 
> @Matri, the Pajama Girl reference was for you ;)
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who reads and especially those of you who comment! Your feedback really helps push me to make this story so much better than it would have been. The overall story I wanted to tell hasn't changed, but you've pushed me to add a depth to it that I'm loving. Please keep it coming! I love to hear your thoughts ♥♥♥


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Um, Marinette, maybe don’t antagonize the akuma that’s after you?” Chat Noir grabs her by the arm and jerks her out of the way of another golden blast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got out of hand (it's almost 2k longer than usual) but after some encouragement (thanks @chatonne-rousse!) I decided to just go with it.
> 
> I updated the chapter count now since I'm sure it's going to be 8 chapters now.
> 
> Hope y'all enjoy!

Adrien looks up when he hears a frustrated scream. He pauses the game he was playing and exchanges worried looks with Plagg and Tikki, who were in the middle of a game of tag. Kwamis in tow, he heads over to the bedroom where Marinette is sitting cross-legged on the bed, her face buried in her hands, surrounded by scrunched up pieces of paper.

“Um, everything okay in here?”

She looks up from her hands. “I can’t do it! I have no good ideas. I’m a hack! I can’t design anything and we’re going to get married in paper bags and everyone will laugh at us and then I’ll be known as Paper Bag Girl and—”

“Come on, my lady,” he says, chuckling and sitting down next to her on the bed. “I have faith in you. And if you decide you want us to get married wearing paper bags, well, I think the world will be blown away at just how good we can make paper bags look.”

She giggles, which is what he wanted. “Maybe you can pull it off, Mr Model, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have the hips for it.”

“Excuse you,” he says, bumping her shoulder with his, “but your hips can pull off anything.”

Her cheeks go pink—compliments always embarrass her, which doesn’t make any sense because she has to know she’s beautiful—and she doesn’t say anything else. 

Vaguely he registers Plagg laughing from the doorway before being shushed by Tikki. He ignores them both.

“Would it help to talk it out?”

“I don’t know.” She sighs. “I mean, wedding dresses are an entire fashion industry in and of themselves, and I haven’t been following the trends, and I mean, I don’t even think I should be wearing a traditional wedding dress because it just feels wrong, but I think maybe I need to get over that because every non-wedding dress that I try to design for this just comes out so _boring_ and I don’t know what to do!”

“Breathe,” he reminds her, rubbing her back. “You don’t want to wear a traditional wedding dress because you want to save that for when you get married for real, right?”

“I know, I’m being stupid.” She buries her face in her hands again.

“You’re not being stupid, it’s important to you.” He pries her hands loose as gently as he can. He tries not to think about a future wedding where Marinette marries someone else and he's maybe (probably? hopefully?) invited. He swallows. “I’m sorry I'm messing that up.”

“It’s not your fault!”

He ignores that. It is his fault, but they’re not going to get anywhere by arguing about it.

“What have you thought of so far?”

“I had this idea of doing a mix of white and red because in Chinese culture it’s traditional to get married in red, but in the West it’s traditional to get married in white, and I wanted to try to marry the two into something new.”

“That sounds great,” he says encouragingly.

“No, it’s not, it’s stupid! Everything I try turns out stupid and derivative and it doesn’t even work and I don’t even know if I want to be seen wearing red because Ladybug wears red and what if it gives away my secret identity??”

“No one’s going to figure out your secret identity because you wore red.”

“He’s right,” Tikki pipes up, flying closer. “You know the miraculous magic is stronger than that.”

She exhales loudly. “It doesn’t even matter because I hate everything.”

“Why don’t you just design something you’ll feel beautiful in? Or even make one of your older designs that you never had a reason to make before. We’re not having a traditional wedding, so there’s no reason that it has to be a traditional dress, right?”

She bites her lip. “I did come up with this one dress…”

“Yeah?”

“But it’s so self-indulgent! It’s not remotely fashion forward.”

“So what? If you like it, who cares?”

“No one will take me seriously as a designer if I show up in something like that!”

“Can I see it?”

“Fine,” she huffs. She flips through her sketchbook and Adrien can’t suppress his smile. She’d liked it enough to let it stay in her sketchbook, unlike the designs littering their bed right now. “You can see for yourself that it’s stupid.”

He seriously doubts that.

She pushes the book towards him.

A sweetheart neckline flowing into off-the-shoulder lace sleeves. The natural waist set off by a full skirt that goes just past the knees. The gauze and lace broken up by a delicate pink floral pattern. Warmth suffuses his chest as he takes it in. 

He can already imagine Marinette in the dress, how the lace will hug the delicate curves of her body, how her hair will look tumbling around her bare shoulders, how sweet she’ll look in shades of white and pink, not far off from his fantasies of her as the blushing bride on their wedding day.

He fights to contain the heat he can feel spreading from his chest to his face as he imagines it.

“It sucks, doesn’t it?”

He shakes his head fiercely. “I love it.” 

“I’m just not sure about it. Like it feels weird to do a big elaborate wedding gown when we’re barely having a wedding and I didn’t want to do something long and be tripping over it all night because you know I would but I think I do need a full skirt to balance out my complete lack of curves so then I thought short was the way to go but I’m still not sure about the pink and I haven’t worked with tulle much and maybe—”

He draws her attention away from her rambling (it’s cute but he knows she hates getting stuck in her head like that) by pointing at the design on the skirt. “Cherry blossoms?”

“Yeah. I can embroider them right onto the tulle.” She shrugs. “They’re my signature.”

“I know.” He smiles.

“I had this idea of tying the looks together by doing a cherry blossom tie or pocket square or maybe some embroidery on the lapel of your suit but, I mean, you wouldn’t want to wear that.”

“Why not?”

“Well, they’re pink flowers. Isn’t it kind of girly?”

“Guys aren’t allowed to like flowers?”

“Do you?” She sounds hesitant, but Adrien can read her well enough to know when she’s asking to be convinced.

“Yes, I like flowers,” he says. "And I like pink." He squeezes her hand. “Marinette. Make the dress. Make the suit. Put me in whatever you want. I love everything you create.”

Her face softens, and he’s sure he’s persuaded her. “If you’re sure…”

“I’m sure.”

“See, Marinette? He loves it. Aren’t you glad you talked to him about your worries? You can trust Adrien.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” she says tightly.

Adrien gives Marinette’s hand another squeeze. She must still be feeling anxious about the dress.

“We’re going to look a- _lace-_ ing,” he promises her.

“That was terrible,” she groans.

“Are you saying I need new _material_?” he asks, waggling his eyebrows.

“Staaaaaahhhhhhppppp.”

She can groan and tell him to stop all she wants, but she’s laughing and looking much less tense. Adrien’s calling that a win.

* * *

Marinette looks over at Adrien where he sits next to her at the breakfast bar. He’s smiling softly in between bites of their lunch—she taught him to make quiche today—and just looking generally content.

He seems happy enough with her, well doing this together, obviously he’s not _with her_ with her and— She shakes her head to cut off that line of thought. 

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah.” She hesitates. He seems happy but... “Hey, don’t take this the wrong way but you haven’t done any of your usual activities since we moved in together and I guess I’m just a little worried?”

He just smiles at her. “Honestly I’m kind of enjoying not being scheduled every minute of the day right now.”

“I thought you would be desperate to get out and do things and have all kinds of plans.”

“To be honest I didn’t even realize that I’ve been kind of a homebody. I guess I’ve just been caught up in being with - um, being out of my father’s house, you know?” Adrien rubs the back of his neck.

“Yeah, of course,” she agrees. “I just want you to do things if you want to, you know? You don’t have to be stuck with me all the time. You should see your other friends too. I know how important they are to you.”

“Thanks, Marinette,” he says warmly. “That’s a good point. I’ll see if Nino wants to do something.”

* * *

“What was I thinking agreeing to make a wedding dress _and_ a suit a month before the wedding! It’s too much, Tikki! I’m never going to get it done! We really are going to get married in a pair of paper bags!” Marinette tugs at her hair. Every time she so much as looks at her sewing machine or fabric or sketchbook she just wants to scream.

“You can do it, Marinette!"

“And why did I choose designs with so much embroidery? That alone will take me a week at least!”

“You’ve got time. And it’s not like you have a lot of other commitments right now.”

She knows Tikki’s trying to help, but she can barely focus on what she’s saying past the overwhelming mantra of _too much too much toomuchtoomuchtoomuch_ going through her head.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to embroider tulle? It’s going to be a disaster!”

“It’s going to be beautiful.”

“Adrien’s going to hate it.”

“He’s going to love it.”

“Everyone is going to think they’re stupid.”

“Your designs are beautiful. I’m sure Adrien and I aren’t the only ones who think so.”

“What if I mess this up?”

“You won’t,” Tikki promises. She nuzzles Marinette’s cheek and she leans into the contact gratefully. She kind of regrets encouraging Adrien to go out now. She’s glad that he’s getting some time with his friend, but she could really use one of his pep talks right now. “You need to calm down, Marinette. If you get too worked up, you’re vulnerable to Hawkmoth.”

Marinette takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “That’s not going to happen.”

Tikki gives her a cheering smile. “Come on, why don’t you go for a walk and clear your head, and then you can get started.”

“I could go for an iced coffee...” And she needs something to help her focus.

“That’s the spirit!”

* * *

Nino looks at him consideringly across the table at the juice bar. “You seem really happy, man.”

“I am,” Adrien answers honestly. He’s the happiest he can remember being since...in a really long time.

“I’m happy for you.” Nino takes a sip of his mango pineapple juice. “I take it you’re still feeling good about getting married then?”

“Yeah.” He runs a finger through the condensation on his glass, drawing little patterns. “It’s been surprisingly easy living together. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but I love having her around all the time. And I don’t think I’m driving her too crazy yet,” he adds with a self-deprecating laugh.

“I’ll bet Marinette loves having you around all the time too.”

Adrien’s not entirely sure about that, but he just smiles. “Well, I mean, there’s a lot I don’t know how to do, you know? But Marinette’s been really patient with teaching me. I feel a little stupid that I don't know how to do so many basic tasks.”

“Nah, dude. We’re all still figuring out this adulting thing. You’re just a little behind with the basics because rich folk be like that.”

He smiles. “So, what’s this about a new gig?”

Nino tells him about how he’s been booked for a month doing one night a week at a popular club in the 4th arrondissement and how it has the potential to turn into a regular thing. Adrien listens attentively. His friends are all so talented, seriously, how did he end up with such amazing friends?

“And even if it doesn’t pan out, I’m gonna make a ton of connections through Rob, so it should be a net win no matter what.”

“That’s great!” Adrien says. “It’s so…”

He trails off as his phone pings with an alert. Not now! He’s only halfway through his strawberry banana smoothie. Why does Hawkmoth always have to strike when he’s having a good time?

He knows they’ll get to hang out again, and it can even be soon now that there’s no Father or Anais to say he can’t.

It’s still disappointing though. 

He opens the app to see where the attack is. Champ de Mars. Well, that’s promising, right? That’s nowhere near here. Maybe they’ve been worried over nothing and Hawkmoth isn’t targeting them after all.

“I have to go. I have a—” Oh crap. He can’t blame a photoshoot, Nino knows he hasn’t been booked for one of those since he moved out. Quick. Quick! What excuse can he use? “—dentist appointment. I totally forgot but I just got the reminder on my phone. Maybe we can get together another time?”

“Uh, sure, dude.” Nino looks skeptical but doesn’t say anything.

“Sorry, still getting used to managing my own schedule!"

* * *

As soon as Chat Noir arrives on the scene, all of his relief evaporates.

Because in the middle of the chaos and the destruction is Marinette.

She still hasn’t transformed and the reason for that quickly becomes clear as the akuma lines up its attack, aiming right for her.

He tackles her out of the way, just barely evading the blast.

“What’s his deal?” he asks as he scoops her into his arms and leaps out of range.

“Calls himself Gold Miner. His power is turning people to gold—at least partially.”

“YOU WON’T ESCAPE ME SO EASILY!” 

He glances over his shoulder as he jumps and, sure enough, Gold Miner is still after them.

“He seems to have taken a real _shine_ to you.”

“He’s been targeting me since he turned.” 

“Why?” he asks as they land behind one of the larger trees lining the park.

Marinette steps out of his hold and turns to face him.

“I don’t know!” She gestures frantically as she talks. “He was behind me in line at the café and the machine was having trouble with my credit card and then he was akumatized!”

“You think…?” 

She nods, looking concerned. 

“DON’T LIE!” Gold Miner booms from the other side of the tree. “I know all about your little scam. You pretty girls who bat your eyes and pretend to have trouble just so some gullible guy will pay for you. But I didn’t fall for it this time, did I? And now I’m going to show everyone what a gold digger you really are!”

Marinette's face tightens into an angry, determined look that Chat would normally find really cute, except it’s paired with her _stepping out to glare at the akuma_ and yell, “It’s not my fault the machine wasn’t working and you’re paranoid!”

“Um, Marinette, maybe don’t antagonize the akuma that’s after you?” He grabs her by the arm and jerks her out of the way of another golden blast.

“I’m fine. You need to get Ladybug and I need to get this guy off my _tail_ ,” she says meaningfully.

She can’t mean… He searches her face and she raises her eyebrows at him expectantly.

No. No way.

“It’s too risky. I need to get you somewhere safe first.”

“If his powers work the way I think they do then I’m not in any real danger.”

“I don't like gambling with your safety, m - Marinette.”

“You need to do this,” she insists and the looks she gives him is full of firm resolve.

He doesn't like it. He doesn't like it at all. But it's not the first time he hasn't liked one of Ladybug's plans. Not the first time one has scared him. 

And at the end of the day, he trusts her instincts. 

“Stay safe.”

He uses his pole to vault into the air and races off to their apartment. It’s not far and he’s going as fast as he can, and even though he knows it’s only a matter of minutes before he’s landing on their balcony, it feels like ages.

As he runs through the apartment towards the sewing room, he regrets convincing Marinette to store the Miracle Box here instead of in the bedroom where it would be closer.

Every second wasted is an extra second Marinette spends in danger.

Every second wasted is a second too long.

He slips the necklace on.

“Plagg, Trixx, UNIFY!”

* * *

When they get back to the apartment, Marinette heads to the kitchen right away. 

"Nice work, Trixx," she says, offering the kwami a strawberry. They try to make a point of keeping all the kwamis' favourites on hand and Trixx is a berry fiend.

"Yeah, thanks for your help," Adrien says.

"It's nice to get out," Trixx says before swallowing the fruit whole. "I wouldn't mind working with you again. You have a talent for illusions."

"I have a bit of experience with misdirection," Adrien says.

“You both did a great job!” Tikki enthuses.

Marinette has to agree. Adrien had used at least five illusions as far as she could tell. One to hide that he was using the fox miraculous. One to make Ladybug show up on the scene. One to have Adrien rescue Marinette. One to allow Marinette to swap in for the illusion Ladybug. And one to disguise the fact that Ladybug had a golden arm (necessary, since it hadn’t been _Ladybug_ that Gold Miner had hit). 

It’s lucky they aren’t subject to the timer anymore or they never would have pulled this off.

It was impressive work and she says as much.

“It wasn’t _that_ impressive,” Plagg gripes. “So Trixx can make some fancy pictures to confuse stupid humans, big deal.”

Adrien smiles indulgently and strokes under Plagg's chin with a finger. "Don't worry. You're still my favourite."

Marinette hides her own smile as she watches Plagg pretend that he doesn’t love the attention.

When Trixx finishes eating, Adrien slips off the fox miraculous and returns it to the Miracle Box. 

“You’re never doing that to me again,” he says as soon as he returns to the kitchen. 

Marinette crosses her arms, unimpressed. She knew this was coming. “You’re one to talk. It worked, didn’t it?”

“He turned your arm to gold!”

“Only up to the elbow,” she says with a shrug. “And it was my left, so it didn’t interfere with my yoyoing at all.”

“It could have been a lot worse and you know it. You’re lucky it was just your arm.”

“Says the one who regularly takes all kinds of hits. Look, I figured since he was mad about gold diggers, he’d only be turning people into gold to the extent they’re motivated by money. And I was right. It really wasn’t as risky as you’re making it sound.”

He clenches his jaw and looks away.

“It was pretty risky, Marinette,” Tikki chides. “You’re the Guardian and the only one who can use the Cure. We can’t afford for you to take risks like that. You made a pretty big leap of logic there and we would’ve been in big trouble if you’d been wrong.”

She sighs “Okay, it was risky, but it was a calculated risk. I needed the akuma to keep me in his sights so that when ‘Ladybug’ showed up there wouldn’t be any doubt that we’re two different people.” She tugs on his arm until he looks at her. When he finally meets her eyes, his face softens. “I’m sorry I scared you. Hopefully both of our identities are safe now.”

He exhales shakily. “Hopefully.”

* * *

This is what happens when the negative emotions are weak.

His target victim was well-placed and his motivation was perfect.

He just needs a stronger animosity.

Gabriel knows where to find that. 

* * *

_Now that Adrien and Kagami had broken up, it was easier on Marinette’s poor, battered heart not to see them together anymore, not to be haunted by thoughts of them kissing, of him loving someone else._

_But her hope that the breakup would mean the return of Adrien’s affections proved to be in vain._

_In the month since their break up, there had been no new declarations._

_No renewed professions of undying love._

_No return of Chat Noir’s over the top flirtations._

_No change in the way Adrien looked at Marinette._

_She considered renewing her own attempts to confess to him, but those had always failed miserably, and the prospect was so much more daunting now._

_He was Adrien_ _and Chat Noir both. Crush and partner. First love and best friend._

_He was the most important person in her world._

_What would he think of her confessing to him now, after she had turned him down so many times? What would he think of her waiting until he had moved on to tell him that she loved him?_

_What if she made things awkward?_

_And what if he wanted space?_

_And what if she ruined everything?_

_There had to be some way to find out if her confession would be welcome without risking what they had._

* * *

_“Ready, bug?” Chat Noir asked as he landed next to Ladybug where she sat, legs dangling off the top of Montparnasse Tower, all set to begin their patrol of the 14th and 15th arrondissements. She didn’t move to stand though._

_“In a minute." Her voice was off._

_"Everything okay?" he asked, taking a seat next to her._

_"Just thinking…" She paused and he gathered that she was considering whether or not to share with him. "About love," she continued after a few seconds, and he kind of wished she hadn't._

_She wasn’t looking at him, but he did his best to keep his expression neutral anyway._

_"Thinking about that boy you're in love with?"_

_"Yeah," she said softly. "I want to confess but…" She shrugged. "I'm scared. I don’t think he feels the same way."_

_He wanted to support her, wanted to tell her that anyone would be a fool not to want to be with her...but that was probably too much._

_"You're the bravest person I know" was what he finally settled on._

_"Not always," she whispered._

_“Just because you’re scared doesn’t mean you’re not brave.”_

_She bit her lip and chanced a glance at him. “Can I ask you something?”_

_“You can ask me anything.”_

_“Just...you and Kagami,” she said, and his stomach sank. He really, really didn’t want to revisit that particular topic, especially not with her. But, he had promised her anything and he meant it._

_He hummed questioningly._

_"You really liked her, right?"_

_"Kagami's great. Of course I like her."_

_“Do you think you’d ever get back together?”_

_“No,” he said immediately. That would be a terrible idea._

_“What if...what if she wanted to? What if she realized she made a mistake reject— I mean breaking up with you. Don’t you think some things are worth trying again?”_

_“No,” he repeated, frowning. “I think that when something ends, it’s probably for a good reason. I don’t want to be in some on-again off-again relationship. We’ve both moved on and that’s for the best.”_

_“Right,” she said, looking disappointed. And even though he didn't want to talk about this, her concern and friendship still filled him with happiness. “That’s - that’s fair.”_

_"Besides, we're friends. That's the most important thing."_

_She nodded, pressing her lips together. "Right."_

_“Hey,” he said gently, nudging her arm with his, touched by how much she cared about him. “I’m okay. You don’t need to worry about me. I think I'm just going to have to take a break from dating until we take care of Hawkmoth.”_

_She gave him a smile, but it was strained._

_He frowned. “Are_ you _okay?"_

_"I'm - I'm fine."_

_"Are you going to confess?"_

_“No," she said, and she looked so crushed that he almost wished she’d change her mind and tell whatever idiot boy had caught her heart, just so she wouldn’t be sad about it. "It's like you said. I don’t think it’s a good idea for superheroes to date."_

_“We’ve still got each other?” he offered, stupidly, like that would be any consolation._

_But she leaned into his shoulder. “Yeah, that’s the important thing.”_

* * *

Marinette blinks awake, surprised to find that she's still cuddled up to Adrien. He's always gone by the time she wakes up. For a second, it feels like his arms tighten around her, but then the moment passes and she’s not quite sure whether or not her half-awake mind imagined it or not.

"You're up early," he says, his voice rough with sleep. She feels it rumble in his chest where she's pressed up against him and the vibrations send pleasant tingles across her skin. 

"It does happen," she remarks dryly. She lifts her head off his chest to look at him and it's not fair. He really does roll out of bed looking that good. His hair is messy, more Chat Noir than his usual styled look, and there’s the faintest hint of blonde fuzz along his jawline.

_How is he even hotter?_

It's _really_ not fair. The fact that he's so attractive isn't why she's in love with him. But the fact that she's in love with him _and_ he's insanely attractive certainly isn't making this any easier. 

"Hey, you okay or did you get lost in my eyes?" he teases. 

She flushes, caught, and pulls away from him, fussing with a pillow to hide her red cheeks. 

All his recent flirting isn’t helping either.

She knows it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just habit. He started flirting again for the charade and now he can’t stop.

"I'm still half asleep," she mutters. 

He chuckles. "Poor sleepy bug." 

He ruffles her hair and she bats at his hand so he'll stop. She's sure her hair is messy enough and it feels like he's treating her like he would a kid sister. It's not a nice feeling. 

"It's too early for this," she says, laying her head on her pillow. "You should be nicer to me."

"Hm, yes, it must be hard for you being up at eight. You poor thing." He tucks her hair behind her ear. 

That… feels less kid sisterly.

"I'm glad you're showing some appreciation for my suffering."

"Of course. I just want to support you during this difficult time."

Marinette shifts unconsciously closer to him. She wants to move closer still. 

"That's good. Who knows what terrible things could happen to me waking up at such an ungodly hour with no support."

"Well, we wouldn't want that," he breathes, and he seems even closer, close enough that she really is getting lost in his beautiful green eyes, close enough that she can smell the slightly sour smell of his morning breath when he speaks. 

Horror washes over her, snapping her out of her Adrien-induced daze. If she can smell his morning breath that means _he can smell hers!_

"I have to pee!" she blurts, jumping out of bed and racing for the bathroom.

As she splashes water on her pink cheeks she wishes desperately that these feelings would just go away. 

* * *

Adrien ducks his head into the sewing room. Marinette's hunched over on her knees in the middle of the floor, carefully pinning pieces of fabric together.

"Hey bugaboo, what do you want for dinner?"

"I thought it was your turn," she says without looking up.

"It is. What am I making? I'll make whatever you want."

To his surprise, rather than seeming to appreciate his easygoing offer, she scoffs at him.

“No way. You’re not putting this on me again. I decide every night, it’s your turn to figure it out!”

His eyebrows shoot up. “You don’t like getting to choose?”

“Getting?” she echoes. “ _Getting_?? It’s not exactly a treat to try to come up with food ideas every single night. It’s just another thing to have to figure out.”

“Sorry,” he says, wincing. “I didn’t realize. I guess I’m not used to thinking about this kind of thing and, well, it’s not like I know how to make a lot of different things.”

“You can find recipes online, you know. There are even cooking videos on YouTube.”

“Sorry,” he says again. “I didn’t think of that.”

He’s such an idiot. Hadn’t he complained that he never got to decide anything? And now that he’s moved out and has the chance, he just pushes all the decision making onto Marinette without thinking. She must be so annoyed with him.

She sighs. “No, sorry, I know this is new to you, and I’ve never suggested it before. And I can still help you if you need it. I just don’t want to have to figure out every single meal.”

“No, no, that’s absolutely fair. Don’t worry about tonight. I’ll figure it out!”

* * *

"Is all of this really necessary?"

"Ah ah, button," Tom chides, grinning widely even as he shakes a finger at Marinette. He’s holding a tray of cake samples in the other. "You agreed."

"I said you could make a cake. A! Singular!"

"Of course, of course," he agrees easily, setting the samples out on the kitchen table.

"Then what's all this?" Marinette gestures widely at the overflowing table.

Tom spreads his arms wide. "Flavour options for the different tiers."

Her eyes go wide. "I forgot to specify tiers." 

"You forgot to specify tiers!" Tom agrees cheerfully. 

Sabine approaches and wraps an arm around her. "This is your father's way of showing he's happy for you. You know that, don’t you?"

Marinette nods sullenly and lets her mom guide her into a chair in front of a red and white sample. Adrien works to keep his smile on his face as he takes the seat next to her. He knows Marinette's feelings about their wedding are complicated, that she doesn't want to tarnish the real wedding she's going to have one day. But is the cake really such a big deal?

“You can do two tiers,” Marinette says firmly.

Tom just laughs at her. “Seven is a lucky number. Don't you want a lucky cake?”

“Papa, that’s way too many! Do two.”

“I don’t have to concede anything. You’re the one who forgot to specify tiers.”

“Three,” Marinette growls.

Adrien marvels at the ease with which Marinette argues with her father, and more than that, how easily Tom takes it all in stride. His father would never permit him to argue with him this way, and he _definitely_ wouldn’t banter with him, never mind enjoying it.

“I suppose I could be persuaded to make the cake six tiers.”

“Five and make two styrofoam.”

“Styrofoam?” Tom gasps. “Did you hear that, Sabine? My own daughter.”

“Paaaapaaaa, come onnnn,” Marinette whines. “I know you do it all the time.”

“Five tiers, all real cake.”

“That’s over one hundred slices of cake!”

Adrien’s eyes go wide at the pronouncement. What will they do with that much cake?

“Well, you’re not going to eat the top tier right away, right? You can freeze and save that for your first anniversary,” Sabine offers, her eyes glinting mischievously.

He’s pretty sure Marinette misses it because she’s too busy rubbing her hands over her face. Adrien pats her back awkwardly.

“I don’t want to have more cake than people,” she grumbles, which is fair. The guest list is really, really small.

"Well, you know, _batter_ safe than sorry?" Adrien offers. 

Marinette groans loudly while Tom barks a delighted laugh. Sabine giggles.

"He's right, button," Tom says. "Better not _whisk_ it." He grins at Adrien and Adrien can't help his answering grin, warmth bursting in his chest. 

"Oh no."

“Of course, we don’t want to over- _dough_ it.”

"I _mousse_ -t disagree. There's no such thing as too much cake."

"Surely we can find some compromise to keep the _piece_."

"I'm sure I can come to an agreement with someone who knows how to _rise_ to the challenge."

He glances over at Marinette and sees her mouth twist with amusement. She’s enjoying this, even if she pretends not to be. He leans over.

“How many tiers is fifty slices?” he whispers.

“Three.” Her smile stretches. “I thought you had _dessert_ -ed me.”

His smile widens in turn. “Never.” He turns to Tom. “I think Marinette’s idea of using styrofoam will prevent this ending in _tiers_.”

Tom laughs. “Alright, alright. Five tiers, but the bottom two will be styrofoam,” he agrees warmly. He reaches across the table to pat Adrien on the shoulder. “Thank you for your _patisserie_ -pation in this _batter_ of the puns.”

“Marinette, why didn’t you tell us Adrien was such a punster?” Sabine asks, eyes shining with amusement. “He’s going to fit right in with this family.”

“I knew this would happen if Papa ever found out. But—” she raises sparkling eyes to Adrien’s “—I guess I was worried over _muffin_.”

Her parents positively beam at the pair of them and Adrien feels so happy he’s about ready to burst with it. 

He loves being here. He loves Marinette’s parents. He loves Marinette. He loves feeling like he's part of a real family. 

More than anything, he wishes he and Marinette were getting married for real.

Maybe, if he's lucky, Tom and Sabine will still consider him part of the family after the divorce. 

* * *

Marinette is working away in the sewing room, carefully sewing together the pieces of the bodice of her dress. She jerks when a hand descends onto her shoulder out of nowhere, almost sewing a line down the front of it. 

She whirls with a glare. “Don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“I’ve been trying to get your attention for a full minute now.”

“Oh,” she mumbles. She looks around. “Where are Tikki and Plagg?”

“Sleeping,” he says. “You should be sleeping too. It’s late. Come to bed, you can continue in the morning.”

“I just need, like, fifteen more minutes!” she insists.

“Come on. You and I both know that you have no concept of time when you get into the zone. If I leave you to it, those fifteen minutes will turn into an hour and then two and then before you know it it’s 2 a.m. and you still haven’t slept!”

“I don’t...always do that,” she says, caught.

He smiles fondly at her. “Come to bed,” he says firmly.

She sighs. He’s right. Of course he’s right.

It’s just another night of cuddling with the love of her life, right? Just another night of having the thing she wants most in the world dangled in front of her, just out of reach. 

She can do this. It’s fine. She’s fine.

“Okay.”

She lets him lead her out of the sewing room and to their bedroom.

Just another night for her to get used to falling asleep in Adrien’s arms.

(She doesn’t know how she’s going to sleep without him when this is all over.)

* * *

“Adrien?” Marinette’s voice comes through the bathroom door, accompanied by her knock. “Can I come in? I just need my hand cream.”

He reaches for the door handle, opening it wordlessly as he continues brushing his teeth.

“Thanks!” she squeaks.

That attracts his attention and he looks her over. Her cheeks are adorably pink and she hovers in the doorway, making no move to reach around him to the cabinet behind the mirror where she stores her toiletries.

He spits out a mouthful of toothpaste and turns to give her his full attention.

“You wanted your hand cream?” he prompts.

“Right,” she says, glancing up at his face before glancing down and away again.

He follows her gaze to his bare chest and a thrill races through him.

He can feel the grin spread over his face. “My lady, are you checking _meow_ -t?”

She jerks at the pun and glares at him. “Oh my god, you furry, you’re not even transformed right now.”

“That wasn’t a denial,” he sing-songs.

“You’re ridiculous,” she mutters, crossing her arms and refusing to look at him. Her cheeks are still that adorable shade of pink.

That’s...still not a denial. Is she – could she be – is she attracted to him?

He turns and retrieves her hand cream for her, subtly flexing as he reaches up into the cabinet. He tries to watch her out of the corner of his eye, but he can’t make out any reaction.

And if he offers her the lotion by holding it strategically at ab level, well, that’s okay, right? She’d only be looking because she wanted to be, right?

But she doesn’t seem to notice as she snatches it from his hand and spins away from him.

He pushes down his disappointment as he watches her disappear into the apartment.

Right, just another case of wishful thinking on his part. He really should know better by now.

* * *

" _What are you doing??_ "

Adrien jumps and drops the laundry bin in the process. He sighs, bending to pick it up again, and tossing in the pieces of clothing that had fallen out.

"Laundry," he says, giving the basket a little shake, like maybe she just hadn’t put that together.

"You can do _your_ laundry," she corrects. She marches forward and shuts her hamper more aggressively than is probably warranted in the circumstances. She didn’t see any dirty underwear but that doesn’t mean he didn’t. She wants to crawl under the bed and hide away forever in mortification. “I can wash mine myself.”

"I don't mind. There's really not much of a difference in adding a few more things in," Adrien says in a reasonable tone of voice. “And anyway you’ve been working so hard on the wedding outfits, I want to help out where I can.”

"You can't! I - I like it done a specific way!"

"You taught me how to do laundry, Marinette, remember?"

That brings her up short.

"I promise to do a good job," he continues.

"No."

His face falls. "Oh. Um, okay, that’s fine. I don’t have to—"

Great, now he thinks he’s done something wrong.

"It's embarrassing!" she blurts, face burning with the admission. "Look it's not your fault. This is just one chore I need to do myself."

"Okay," he draws the word out slowly, and he clearly doesn’t get it. She doesn’t know how to explain it to him without humiliating herself even more, so she says nothing. "I'll… just go do the - I mean, my laundry now."

“Thanks, Adrien,” she says quietly to his retreating back, feeling like the world’s biggest jerk.

* * *

After weeks of practically non-stop sewing, Adrien had finally convinced Marinette to take a break. After some wheedling and maybe a touch of begging, she’d finally conceded that she’d made enough progress that she could afford a night off.

When they started The Princess Bride, they were just sitting side by side, sharing a blanket.

Buttercup’s just declared that her Westley will come for her for the first time when Marinette yawns and rests her head on his shoulder.

He melts, just a little. She’s been working so hard for the past few weeks. She always goes all out for her friends. It’s one of the things he loves most about her.

He’s so, so lucky to be one of them.

Daringly, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his body, so her head rests against his chest. She makes a little contented noise and snuggles into him and his heart squeezes in his chest.

Even if she’ll never love him romantically, if he could just have this forever, he thinks he would be happy.

* * *

“Well, that’s the last of it,” Marinette says, checking the last item off her list with intense satisfaction. “The marriage application has been submitted, the restaurant is booked, my parents are on dessert, invitations have been sent, flowers are ordered, rings are ready for pick up, your suit is finished and my dress only needs a few minor tweaks.”

“Wow. I can’t believe that in less than 2 weeks we’ll be married.”

“Yeah…” She takes a breath. “We should probably talk about the marriage contract now.”

“Did Anais call you?” Adrien asks, his voice turning hard. “I told her we’re not doing one.”

“Nobody did anything. I just think we should talk about it.”

“I’m not signing that awful thing, and I don’t want you to either.”

“Okay, I’m not saying it has to be that exact contract, but I still don’t think a marriage contract is a bad idea. I mean, you can probably get that lawyer to draft something and we won’t even have to pay for it. Don’t you think it’s better if we work out the details for our divorce now? It’s one less thing to stress about down the line.”

"I mean... we don't have to get divorced, right?" He smirks. “Maybe you’ll find that once I have access to the trust funds and can spoil you like the princess you are, you’ll like it so much you don’t want to get divorced.”

She rolls her eyes because she knows he’s just teasing. He has no way of knowing that he’s hurting her.

“Sure,” she says. “Or maybe I’ll decide I like it so much I try to take you for half in the divorce, which is why we should have a pre-nup.”

He tuts. “It’s not like you to give away your plans like that, my lady. You’re slipping.”

“Just lulling you into a false sense of security.”

“I just mean, this is kind of nice, isn't it? Our kwamis don't have to hide and we don't need to make excuses to each other and I like spending time with you. I like living with you. We could just... keep doing this.”

“Just...stay married?”

He gives a little shrug and she forgets to breathe, warmth spreading throughout her body.

Adrien wants to stay married? What if he’s not teasing? What if he means it? Does...does he want to marry her for real?

“It could work, right?” he says. “We’re well-suited to each other and - and it doesn’t _have_ to be romantic, right? Like that’s something friends do sometimes? Just...build a life together, even if they’re not in love.”

The warmth turns to ice in her veins.

She knows he doesn’t feel that way about her anymore. Why does she keep getting her hopes up? Why can’t she get over him the way he got over her?

And it’s so close. So very close to being everything she wants.

But if the past few months have taught her anything it’s that she can’t handle having just a taste.

“Um, I mean, I guess? I don’t know anyone who has but I’m sure some people do. I just—” She shakes her head helplessly. “I don’t think it’s for me.”

“I like what we have,” he says softly. “I like this.”

“Adrien…” He’s happy. This is what she wanted. So why is this so hard?

“Just hear me out, okay? I love living with you. I love having you around all the time and talking and sharing meals and even doing chores together. You’re - you’re my best friend. And since we moved in together, I’ve been so happy. And—”

“You’re happy because you’re out of that awful house. You like living with me because I’m not simultaneously neglecting and controlling you! I’m so glad you’re out of there, but this - this can’t be a forever thing.” 

“Can’t it?”

 _Yes!_ screams her traitorous heart.

She takes a deep breath to remind herself that _Adrien’s not in love with you_ , only her heart isn’t listening. It keeps whispering to her, seducing her with facts like _he’s happy with you_ and _he wants to build a life with you_ and promises like _it’s only a matter of time before he falls in love with you again_ and dreams like _what if you could get married for real?_

She wants so badly to believe her heart, but she knows her head is telling her the truth. And the truth is that the so-called home Adrien grew up in was an awful place. The truth is that his father is a horrible, abusive jerk. The truth is that of course he finds living with her to be an improvement. It’s not a compliment, it just means the bar was so low it was in the ground. The truth is that she’s still glad that he’s happy.

The truth is that she can’t do this forever.

“Do you...not like living with me?”

Her heart breaks at the question.

“Of course I do.” He doesn’t need to know that it’s also confusing and painful. “I just…” she trails off. How can she explain without exposing her heart? “What you’re saying sounds a lot like settling,” she says slowly, carefully. She doesn’t want him to settle for her, she wants him to choose her. “One day you’re going to fall in love and have everything you deserve. Something more than a fake marriage to give you control over your life.”

“You’re not even a little tempted by all the money we’ll have with the trust? I mean, we could use it to help you get started and you might find you like being able to have whatever you want and—”

“Adrien,” she cuts in. She wants to cry, but she knows he would misunderstand, so she blinks the tears away before they can form. “You know you’re worth more than your bank account, right?”

He looks at her with wide, guileless eyes and her breath catches. She wants to give him everything. Wants to make him understand how special he is, how much he means to her. Her hand reaches forward of its own volition to gently brush his hair out of his eyes. He inhales sharply.

 _Tell him_ , her heart whispers.

“Adrien…” 

“Yeah?”

Why not tell him? The worst he can do is say no.

The worst he can do is say no.

The worst he can do is reject her and tell her that he doesn’t feel that way about her anymore. That he’s moved on and he thinks that’s for the best.

The worst thing that can happen is that things get awkward between them.

The worst that can happen is that it’s awkward and now he doesn’t enjoy being around her anymore and he’s miserable and then he starts avoiding her and their friendship is ruined!

The worst that can happen is that the worst happens and she loses the most important person to her.

She swallows. Swallows down the panic rising in her throat, swallows down her confession.

“You’re my most important person. You know that, right?”

“And you’re mine,” he says, nodding seriously. He leans into her, rests his head against hers. “Thanks for doing this for me. I’m sorry for pushing.”

“Oh kitten,” she breathes. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments are love! I tried doing something a little different with the flashback, putting it in the middle of the fic instead of at the beginning and end. Would love to hear feedback on whether or not that worked for you. Thanks for reading :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien swallows, throat going dry as hope bubbles up inside of him. Not only has Father booked him, but he's included Marinette. 
> 
> This must be Father's way of apologizing. 
> 
> Maybe Father realized that he was unfair at dinner. Maybe he misses having Adrien around. Maybe he’s ready to accept their relationship. Maybe he’s finally realized and accepted that Adrien is an adult now and gets to make his own choices. Maybe...
> 
> Maybe Adrien judged his father too harshly...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of y'all have never been absolutely terrified of your crush figuring out that you like them and it shows.
> 
> This chapter got a little out of control... At over 10k, it's basically a double chapter. I could've split it up into two but I already committed to 8 chapters and I really feel that all of these scenes belong together.
> 
>  **Content Warning:** Non-consensual feeling up (not between Adrien and Marinette); also a little bit of spice/mild sexual content (between Adrien and Marinette). See the End Note (mild spoilers) for more details if you're worried that this is something you wouldn't like to read.
> 
> Anyway, here it is. The penultimate chapter. I hope you enjoy!

“Come on, put a little muscle into it!” 

Adrien gives her an unimpressed look. “I don’t want to send the batter flying.” 

“Sure, kitten,” she laughs. “Use your hands then. It’s easier.” 

“My hands?” 

Marinette takes the spatula from him and sets it aside. Adrien sticks his hands into the bowl and looks at her uncertainly. 

“Like this,” she says, covering his hands with her own and guiding them in mixing the ingredients. He lets her, wishing for a moment that he wasn’t quite so tall so that she could do this with her arms around him, instead of awkwardly at his side. Still, he enjoys the feel of her hands on his, even as they get covered in sticky dough and powdery excess flour. 

“I don’t think there’s enough liquid.” 

“There is, it just takes a bit to work it through.” She continues guiding him and slowly, as she promised, the flour becomes moistened all the way through. “See?” 

“Yeah!” 

She smiles at him and backs off so he can continue working the dough on his own. 

“Okay, now shape it into a ball in the bowl as best you can.” 

“Like this?” 

“Perfect. Now we need to cover it and let it rise for a few hours.” 

“What do we do while we’re waiting?” 

“Whatever you want,” she says and the words jolt through him. 

_If only..._

His phone rings and he wipes his hands on a dish towel quickly so that he can answer it. It’s strange that it’s ringing at all. These days everyone who wants to get a hold of him just texts. 

He looks at the display. Anais. He frowns. If she's calling about that stupid marriage contract again he's hanging up. 

When he answers the call, she starts talking before he’s even finished his greeting. 

“Adrien, yes, we have you scheduled for a photoshoot tomorrow. We will send a car for you.” 

“Oh,” he says. His father has booked him again? Does this mean he's accepted that Adrien’s an adult now? “I’m available.” 

“Mm. Mr Agreste also wanted to extend an invitation to Mlle Dupain-Cheng to attend. He understands she is interested in fashion.” 

He swallows, throat going dry as hope bubbles up inside of him. Not only has Father booked him, but he's included Marinette. 

This must be Father's way of apologizing. 

Maybe Father realized that he was unfair at dinner. Maybe he misses having Adrien around. Maybe he’s ready to accept their relationship. Maybe he’s finally realized and accepted that Adrien is an adult now and gets to make his own choices. Maybe... 

Maybe Adrien judged his father too harshly... 

“Adrien?” 

He clears his throat to try to cover up that she’s caught him off guard. 

“Yeah, that’s great! I’ll pass on the invitation and if she’s available, she’ll join us.” 

“Very well,” and Anais disconnects the call. 

Marinette looks at him expectantly and he relays the important details. 

“How do you feel about it?” she asks when he’s done. 

“My father isn’t the type of person to apologize. I think this is his way of trying to bury the unpleasantness and move on.” 

“I mean...I guess it’s possible?” Marinette says doubtfully. 

“You don’t think so?” He shakes his head. Of course she doesn’t. She hates his father. “Never mind. Do you want to come tomorrow?” 

“If you want me to.” 

“Of course! I always want you around and this would be good for you, right?” 

“I mean, it probably would be a good experience to see what happens at a real photoshoot...” 

“That settles it then.” 

With Marinette there, this will probably be the best shoot yet! 

* * *

_“Adrien? What are you doing in here, sweetheart?”_

_Adrien looked up from where he was hiding under his covers, then barreled into his mother’s arms, sobbing into her shirt. “Father yelled at me.”_

_Maman sighed. “You interrupted his work again, didn’t you?”_

_“Maybe,” he mumbled into her chest._

_“Adrien,” she said disapprovingly. She pulled away and took him by the chin, forcing him to meet her eyes. “I expect you to tell me the truth.”_

_“Yes,” he admitted quietly. “But he didn’t have to yell!”_

_“Your father’s work is very important. And you know your father works very hard to provide for us.”_

_“I know.”_

_“It’s very stressful to manage a big company the way he does. And it’s very frustrating to be interrupted by little Adriens who barge in without any consideration for that work.”_

_He was flooded with guilt and stared at her with wide eyes._

_“You don’t want to make Father upset, do you?”_

_“No,” he whispered._

_“Good boys behave. You want to be a good boy and make your father happy, right?” Maman asked._

_He nodded soberly._

_“There we go. Now, dry those eyes and come out. You still have lessons.”_

* * *

The following morning comes with far, far too early of a wake up call as far as Marinette is concerned. Still, she knows this is important to Adrien, so it’s important to her, and so he only has to rouse her twice before she gets out of bed. 

Plus, she is excited to be behind the scenes of a real fashion photoshoot. 

“You ready?” Adrien asks, peeking into the bathroom where Marinette is finishing up her makeup. 

“Yeah,” she says, capping her lip gloss. She looks over at him and raises her eyebrows. “Are you?” 

He chuckles and runs a hand through his messy hair. “They’re going to style it when I get there anyway.” 

She doesn’t say anything about how he still never would have left the house with messy hair before. Not as Adrien anyway. 

She tousles it playfully as she walks by. “I like it.” 

When they arrive at the studio, she’s surprised to see Gabriel Agreste. She’d understood from Adrien that he was almost never on set personally. From the way Adrien’s fingers tighten against hers, she’s pretty sure he’s surprised too. 

She sees the way Gabriel’s expression tightens when he spots them, and then his eyes take in Adrien and he frowns deeply. 

She squeezes Adrien’s fingers, a subtle reminder of her presence and her support. 

Adrien leads her over to Gabriel. 

“Good morning, Father.” 

“Adrien. It appears your time away from home has caused you to forget your role as the face of this brand.” 

The insult to Adrien’s appearance is clear and Marinette wants nothing more than to shake him until he stops being so awful all the time. She bites down on the inside of her cheek so that she won’t tell him exactly what she thinks of his stupid hair and stupider sense of priorities. 

He turns to her and - is he smirking? “I’m pleased you could join us, Mlle Dupain-Cheng.” 

She nods, not trusting herself to speak without saying something that will only make the situation worse. 

Then Adrien’s whisked away to be styled and Gabriel directs her to walk with him. 

“Has Adrien given you an idea of what to expect today?” 

“No,” Marinette answers. “I didn’t get the impression he’d been given many details?” 

“Adrien is never interested in those.” 

Marinette doesn’t say anything. She gets the feeling she’s being baited. She doesn’t like it. 

When she doesn’t engage, he continues walking and she follows dutifully. He points out little things around the studio as they walk and, if she didn’t distrust him so intensely, she would think he was actually trying to be helpful. 

They arrive at the set and it’s styled like a ski chalet, with lots of wood panelling, a stone facade around the fireplace, layered rugs over the floor, and a plush looking couch. 

“You’re shooting the Fall/Winter line now, right?” she asks. 

He nods. “Yes.” 

“It must be jarring to always be focused on clothing for the coming season rather than the one we’re in.” She glances down at her light cotton sundress. It doesn’t feel like winter. 

“The focus is the clothing. Surely as a designer your inspiration isn’t limited to what is appropriate to the weather outside.” 

She feels the rebuke and refrains from further attempts at small talk. 

A warm hand on her waist alerts her to Adrien’s return. He smiles warmly at her. 

He looks... well, like he stepped out of a magazine. His messy hair is now artfully tousled. His face is as gorgeous as ever, but all of his features are brighter and better defined. And the clothes... a silk shirt in a muted blue skims his chest and slim cut leather trousers in camel hug his hips. It’s all on trend, she knows, but seeing it on Adrien it somehow feels like more. 

He looks very, very touchable. 

She’s about to say something—what, she’s not sure, because she wants to be encouraging but she knows she can’t come right out and say what she’s thinking—when they’re interrupted. 

“Adrien! Oh and Marinette! It’s soooo great to see you. It’s been forever!” 

Marinette tenses as Lila freaking Rossi waltzes over. Marinette hasn’t seen her since collège when Mme Rossi’s assignment had finished and she’d returned to Italy. She’d been quite happy to keep it that way, but here she is. Back in France. Back in Marinette’s orbit, where she’s sure to cause trouble. 

Lila has the audacity to hug her, like they’re old friends and not bitter enemies. 

Marinette stands stiffly as Lila squeezes her. She can’t bring herself to return the hug in any way, not even to avoid a scene. 

“Wow, Marinette, look at you!” Lila says as she pulls back and looks her up and down. “You know everyone at these things is usually so fashion obsessed. It’s so refreshing to see someone who’s not focused on appearances.” 

“Lila,” Marinette grits out. 

“And Adrien, I’m sooo happy we’ll be working together again!” Lila simpers, throwing her arms around Adrien and kissing his cheek. “You’re looking so handsome. Oh, we’re going to have so much fun.” 

"Always nice to see an old friend." Adrien's smile is sharper than usual. 

“The campaigns that featured the two of you a few years ago were quite successful,” Gabriel says with a little smile. Marinette doesn’t like it, but maybe that’s just her hatred for the two of them colouring her thoughts. “We thought it would be auspicious to bring the two of you back for a more mature shoot now that you’re both adults.” 

“Isn’t it exciting?” Lila croons. “Of course I couldn’t turn down the chance to model for Gabriel again. Isn’t this gorgeous?” 

Lila cocks a hip and gestures at herself and the ridiculously short tiger-print dress she’s wearing with a pair of cream slouchy boots. It’s much more revealing than Gabriel’s usual designs and Marinette is sure she just wants Adrien to check her out. As if Adrien could ever be interested in someone like her. Even if she can fill out that dress better than Marinette ever could. 

“And of course it came with the added perk of seeing old friends.” 

“What luck,” Adrien says blandly. 

“I hope you enjoy _watching_ , Marinette,” Lila sings as she grabs Adrien by the arm and drags him onto the set. 

And Marinette is, indeed, forced to watch. 

It starts innocuously enough, Adrien and Lila posing together against an intimate backdrop. But as the shoot goes on, the photographer calls for more physical contact and Lila becomes more and more daring. 

She has to watch Lila rub her grubby hands all over Adrien’s chest. 

Watch as Lila slides her calculating fingers between the buttons of Adrien’s shirt, touching the bare skin below. 

Watch as Lila pulls the top button undone. 

Watch as Adrien follows the photographer’s instructions to bury his face in Lila’s neck, hold her bare leg up with his hand on her inner thigh, watch as he pulls Lila into his body with the other hand. 

She knows he’s just doing his job. He’s a professional. She knows Lila is the last woman in the world he’d be attracted to. It’s not that she’s jealous of the way he’s touching and being touched by her. 

"Yes, yes, give me passion, give me intensity!" the photographer cries excitedly. 

Although the fact that it has to be _Lila_ with her hands all over the love of Marinette’s life is certainly enough to send her blood boiling all on its own. 

__

But worse than that, she can see that he’s uncomfortable. A tensing in his shoulders here. A blink-and-you'll-miss-it narrowing of his eyes there. He’s being touched in a way he doesn’t want by someone with a history of touching him against his wishes. 

__

She knows he doesn’t do a lot of sessions with other models, and he certainly hasn’t done one as...hands on as this before. 

__

Why does it have to be with _her?_

__

After the fifth time Marinette sees Lila drag her lips over Adrien’s exposed throat, she’s ready to throw hands. 

__

“Oops, can we get makeup in here?” Lila calls, giggling. “I got lipstick on Adrien’s neck again.” 

__

She reaches up to rub at the smudge and Adrien pushes her hand away. 

__

"Don't," he says, an edge to his voice. "You wouldn't want to risk getting makeup on the clothing." 

__

"You're so thoughtful," Lila smarms. 

__

Marinette's eye tics. 

__

“They work so well together, don’t you think?” Gabriel comments during the break in shooting so the makeup artist can touch up Adrien’s neck. 

__

“Not really.” 

__

His lips twitch in response. 

__

Adrien had thought today was going to be his father extending an olive branch. It’s clear to Marinette now, however, that Gabriel isn’t sorry in the least. 

__

This isn’t an apology, it’s retribution. 

__

This is punishment. 

__

Gabriel has to know how awful Lila is. How uncomfortable she makes Adrien. 

__

“There’s a chemistry between them that will elevate the fashion. As a designer, I’d expect you to be able to recognize that.” 

__

And now Marinette is convinced that having to watch it all is Gabriel’s punishment for her. He wants her to be upset. He’s trying to get her worked up. 

__

It’s working too. She hates them both so much. 

__

“I guess we just have different tastes,” Marinette says as evenly as she can. It’s not as evenly as she would like. 

__

The shoot resumes and it’s another hour of Lila putting her hands all over Adrien, of her giggling “oops sorry” in a completely unapologetic voice every time she crosses the line so boldly that Adrien’s forced to physically move her. Another hour of watching Adrien forced to act out affection and lust for this _bitch_. 

__

The anger and revulsion and protectiveness and love and hate and fury build and bubble up inside of her until she’s practically shaking with it. 

__

“Mlle Dupain-Cheng, are you quite alright?” Gabriel asks. His face is impassive when she looks at him, but she’s sure he’s enjoying this. 

__

She nods tersely. “Fine.” 

__

“Hm, well, I need to see to other things now. Excuse me.” And Gabriel leaves. 

__

She inhales. Exhales. She needs to calm down. She’s seen people akumatized over less. 

__

Marinette turns her attention back to the set, where Adrien is redirecting Lila’s hand away from the waistband of his pants. 

__

She grits her teeth. 

__

It’s not long after that that the shoot finally, mercifully ends. 

__

Adrien gives her a tired smile, eyes strained at the corners, and that’s enough. 

__

Eyes locked with his, she strides towards him, taking no notice of the set, nor the photographer, nor even of Lila. All of her focus is on her kitty and then she’s standing in front of him, staring up into his eyes. 

__

She wants to touch him, so she does, tracing his face with her fingers, caressing his cheeks, over his neck, down his chest, wiping away Lila’s touch from his body as best she can. His breath stutters and he seems to lean into her touch. 

__

He exhales shakily. “Do you want to get—” 

__

He breaks off when her hands move back up to his shoulders and she uses the leverage to jump up and into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He catches her, as she knew he would. 

__

He looks up at her with wide, surprised eyes. 

__

Now that he’s supporting her weight, she brings her arms back around his neck, pulling their bodies close together. 

__

Marinette wants to kiss him, show everyone here that he’s hers and she’s his. 

__

But - this isn’t real. And she can’t be yet another person violating Adrien's boundaries. He’s had enough of that today. 

__

He's had enough of that, period. 

__

Before she can back off or apologize, Adrien tilts his face up towards her in clear invitation, his eyes on hers are bright and wanting. 

__

She presses her lips to his, gently, tenderly, revels in the softness of his mouth, but it’s not enough. She teases her tongue along the seam of his lips and makes a small sound in the back of her throat when they part for her and she can taste him. 

__

Her control slips. 

__

He doesn’t shy away when she slides her tongue into his mouth, no, he seems to welcome it, touching it with his own, sucking on the tip and then returning the favour. He hums into the kiss, sucks on her bottom lip, and then plunders her mouth again. 

__

Her control shatters. 

__

She slides her hands into his hair, makes a mess of the careful photoshoot style, pulls on it to angle his face better, so that she can kiss him deeper, so she can make a mess of _him_. The noise he makes at that zaps along her nerves, sends tingles down her spine and between her legs. 

__

His hands slide from her thighs to her bottom. 

__

He kisses her and kisses her and she loses herself in the kiss until he’s all that fills her mind. 

__

_Adrien, Adrien, Adrien..._

__

She wants this, wants him, and that desire fills and consumes her, pushing out every other thought. 

__

She half-remembers that they’re in public and she wants to suggest that they move this somewhere private so they can do more. There’s a little voice deep inside screaming at her that that’s a bad idea although she can’t remember why at the moment. 

__

There’s just Adrien and her and the burning desire building in her belly and the ache between her legs. 

__

She kisses him some more. 

__

* * *

__

Yes, finally. 

__

He can feel the simmering rage, the jealousy, the hatred. 

__

The perfect portent for him to create his strongest champion yet. 

__

He sends out his akuma with triumphant glee. 

__

"Fly, little akuma, and evilize her." 

__

His akuma takes off and he knows it’s only a matter of minutes before he has her. 

__

Yes, yes, almost there, just a little bit more, now— 

__

The negative emotions he requires disappear abruptly, buried under satisfaction and love and other more...carnal delights. 

__

He clenches a fist, punches a hole in the wall of the dressing room where he’s hidden away. 

__

So close. He almost had her! 

__

He takes a breath and then channels his disappointment into another source of seething jealousy and hatred, one aimed at the cause of his consternation. Then sends an amok after it for good measure. 

__

If he cannot have his triumph, he will have his revenge. 

__

* * *

__

_Marinette, Marinette, Marinette..._

__

The screams interrupt one hell of a kiss. 

__

They break apart, panting. He lowers Marinette down onto her feet, her body sliding against his in a way that's unfairly distracting. Adrien takes in her dark eyes and swollen lips, and he almost forgets the screaming in the fog of desire to just kiss her again. 

__

"What do you want to bet that's Lila?" 

__

Adrien shivers. Her voice is breathless and wrecked and _he did that!_

__

He takes a shuddery breath to try to get himself under some semblance of control. 

__

_Stop thinking about kissing Marinette. There's an akuma attack!_

__

Right, and one that's probably gunning for Marinette. 

__

That cuts through the fog. 

__

He shakes his head. "That's a sucker's bet," he says. "The chance to get akumatized was probably her entire motivation for returning to Paris." 

__

She huffs a laugh at that. 

__

"Come on," he says, taking her hand. "She'll be after you. Let's go." 

__

* * *

__

After they've defeated the akuma and sentimonster, after an awkward fist bump, after Ladybug and Chat Noir have disappeared and Marinette and Adrien have made their way "out of hiding" and back to the set, Adrien's sent to his dressing room to change out of his designer clothing before he can leave. 

__

"Do you think Marinette could have feelings for me, Plagg?" he asks once they're alone. 

__

Plagg groans. "Kid, I'm not the kwami for this." 

__

"It's just... after the photoshoot... she really kissed me." 

__

"You two are getting married. I thought kisses were part of the whole thing." 

__

"Yeah but...we’ve never kissed like that before. She - she kissed me like she _wanted_ me." 

__

"You know who would know?" 

__

"Who?" 

__

"Marinette. So why don't you go ask her. You're putting me off my cheese with all this kissy talk!" 

__

Adrien rolls his eyes. "Nothing puts you off cheese." 

__

"Seriously, kid, talk to her." 

__

Adrien's been holding back because he doesn't want to make her uncomfortable, but she jumped into his arms. She kissed - no, _she made out with_ him. It's not crazy to think that maybe it means something, is it? 

__

"I will." 

__

* * *

__

As soon as they're back in their apartment, Adrien turns to her. 

__

"Hey, can we talk?" he asks, rubbing the back of his neck. 

__

Marinette's chest goes tight with anxiety. She knows exactly what he wants to talk about and _she's not ready._

__

"Can it wait?" she asks lightly. "Alya's coming over tomorrow to see the dress and I still have a couple small fixes." 

__

"Oh. Um, sure." 

__

"Thanks, kitty." 

__

She hides away in the sewing room for the rest of the afternoon. 

__

She's never felt like such a coward. 

__

* * *

__

Adrien's feeling a lot less hopeful and a lot more anxious by the following morning. He hadn't been able to talk to Marinette at all yesterday. After she'd finally come out of the sewing room (after _hours_ ), he'd tried to bring it up over dinner, but every time he did she changed the subject. And then she'd feigned tiredness and decided to turn in early (which Marinette has never done before in all the years he's known her, not even when she really should.) 

__

He turns on the coffeemaker and gets started on breakfast while he wallows. 

__

Did he misread the situation yesterday? 

__

At the time the kissing had certainly _felt_ mutual... 

__

But maybe he was just seeing what he wanted. Maybe she just kissed him as part of the act and he's the one who pushed it so far... 

__

Too far. 

__

"Hey," Marinette says, emerging from their bedroom. 

__

"Hey good morning," he says softly. "Sleep well?" 

__

"Yeah, fine. You?" 

__

"Fine," he lies. He splits the eggs between two plates and offers her one. When she takes it he sighs and runs his newly freed hand through his hair. They still need to talk about this. If he was out of line, he needs to know that. "Look, Marinette—" 

__

"So Alya's going to be over in about an hour," she says. "And since I'm going to be trying on the dress for her, I was thinking maybe you'd want to get out for a bit? I mean only if you want to of course! But, you know, it's bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding day and I just thought it might be a good idea?" 

__

She's avoiding him. He messed up and now she doesn’t want to be around him. 

__

_It’s because you’re unlovable_ , hisses the dark voice inside of him. He buries it down. Marinette cares about him, he knows she does. He just needs to fix this. And he can start by giving her what she’s asked for. 

__

He swallows past the tightness in his throat, then pastes on a smile and says with a cheerfulness he doesn't feel, "Sure, that sounds great!" 

__

* * *

__

Nino’s working at the grocery store (a once a week DJing gig is great but it doesn’t pay the bills - _yet_ ) and Adrien really has no desire to see any of his other friends right now. He knows how to smile and pretend like everything’s okay, but he really doesn’t want to. 

__

It’s not really a surprise when he finds himself in front of the bakery without consciously making that choice. 

__

He probably shouldn’t go in. These are Marinette’s parents and she’s not with him right now. But...he doesn’t have anywhere else to go. 

__

He goes in. 

__

Sabine looks up from the counter when the door jingles and smiles brightly at him. 

__

“Tom, Adrien’s here!” she calls into the back before coming around the counter and hugging him. He’s embarrassed by the way he sinks into it. “How are you, dear?” 

__

“I’m great, how are you?” he answers automatically. 

__

Her eyes narrow and he squirms under her scrutiny before Tom emerges from the back and sweeps him up into a hug. 

__

“Good to see you, son,” he says warmly. 

__

“It’s been a pretty slow day,” Sabine comments. “You don’t mind keeping an eye on the front while Adrien and I visit, do you, Tom?” 

__

“Of course not.” 

__

“Oh, I didn’t mean to impose,” Adrien says. “I just wanted to stop in and say hello.” 

__

“It’s no imposition,” Sabine says, ushering him upstairs to the family apartment. 

__

She gets them settled at the kitchen table with pastries and tea, and it’s so perfectly cozy that he almost forgets his anxiety over the situation with Marinette. 

__

“Now,” she says, turning those canny eyes on him, “what’s on your mind?” 

__

He rubs the back of his neck. “That obvious, huh?” 

__

She just watches him steadily, warmly. 

__

Is this what it would have been like if his own mother was still around? Maybe he wouldn’t be making such a mess of things all the time if he’d had someone to talk things through with. 

__

Still, this is Marinette’s mother. He shouldn’t be talking to her about Marinette. 

__

Although...it’s not like he has anyone else. 

__

He blinks back the tears that spring to his eyes. He definitely shouldn’t _cry_ in front of her! 

__

Before he’s even realized she’s noticed, she’s leaning over the corner of the table and wrapping him into a motherly hug. 

__

“Oh sweetheart,” she murmurs into his hair. 

__

That tips him over and he finds himself, embarrassingly, sobbing into her shoulder. She hums and coos and rubs his back through it until, finally, his tears dry up. He pulls away first and she uses a napkin to wipe the tears and snot away from his messy face. The display of maternal affection almost sends him going again, but he swallows it down. 

__

“Sorry,” he mutters, rubbing at his face. 

__

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

__

“Marinette’s mad at me,” he blurts, then winces. He didn’t mean to say that. 

__

“Is this your first fight?” she asks gently, giving his hand a squeeze. 

__

He shakes his head. “No,” he says. Not by a long shot. “But usually she just yells at me and then I apologize or fix whatever it is and we’re fine. But now...she won’t talk to me and—” his throat seals off and he can’t continue. He covers his face with his free hand, tries to breathe through it. 

__

“Are you sure she’s angry with you?” 

__

Adrien uncovers his face. He swallows, finds his voice again. “Why else would she...” 

__

“You understand I’ve known Marinette her whole life, right?” 

__

He nods. 

__

“Well, I’ve never known her to resort to the silent treatment when she’s angry. The yelling - that sounds like her. But usually when she doesn’t want to talk it’s because she’s upset with herself.” 

__

He frowns. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would she be upset with herself?” 

__

“She makes mistakes too,” Sabine murmurs. “Just because she’s unhappy doesn’t mean it’s your fault.” 

__

And just like that he’s crying again, hiding his face in his hands. Because of course it’s his fault, it’s always his fault. He can’t seem to make anyone happy no matter how hard he tries. 

__

Her arms come around him again and she soothes him through his breakdown until he’s calm enough to speak again. 

__

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” he mutters, wiping his face with the napkin. He doesn’t know if he could bear letting her do it again. “I’m so embarrassed right now.” 

__

She shakes her head. “There’s nothing embarrassing about being sad or hurt. Your feelings matter, Adrien.” 

__

No adult has ever said that to him before. It doesn’t sound right. 

__

He has the urge to cry again, but he pushes it down. His eyes and throat hurt. He’s tired of crying. 

__

He takes a shaky breath and lets it out slowly. 

__

“Have you tried talking to Marinette about whatever you two are fighting about?” 

__

“I tried... and we didn’t fight, exactly. Just - something happened and she’s been avoiding me since.” 

__

“Something bad?” 

__

He shrugs. “I don’t know? I mean, I didn’t think so but then she wouldn’t talk to me and—” he breaks off shrugging and exhaling his frustration. 

__

“Are you comfortable sharing what happened?” 

__

_Well, you see, we’re not really together but I’ve been in love with her for ages and then we made out and I thought maybe she loves me too but now I think she just got carried away and regrets it._

__

He can’t say that. And he can’t think of a way of talking around it that will make sense. 

__

“I don’t think I can.” 

__

“From the sounds of it, the two of you did something together and now you think the consequences of that are your fault.” 

__

“I...yeah?” 

__

“Relationships are made of two people. You’re both responsible for what happens between you. That’s why communication is so important.” She pauses and seems to be considering her words as her mouth twists repeatedly for several long moments. “It sounds to me like...what happened...came as a bit of a shock to Marinette, so she probably needs some space to process that. It doesn’t mean that it’s your fault or that she blames you, and ideally she would’ve used her words to tell you that first, but you’re both young and still learning these things.” 

__

At the reminder that Sabine thinks they’re rushing and shouldn’t be getting married, his gut twists anxiously. He shouldn’t have come here. 

__

“So I’ll just give her space,” he says, nodding and preparing to extricate himself before he can make things worse. 

__

But Sabine shakes her head. “Your feelings matter too, Adrien,” she reminds him. “Marinette’s not always the best at talking about how she feels. She gets caught up in her anxiety sometimes and stuck in her own head.” 

__

“Yeah, I know.” But usually that leads to her rambling and talking in circles, or wailing and coming up with impossible terrible scenarios, and she just needs someone to anchor her. Not refuse to talk to him and avoid him. “This doesn’t seem like that.” 

__

“Because it involves you.” 

__

“What?” 

__

“She’ll talk to you about it and accept comfort from you as long as it’s not _about_ you. I mean, look at how long it took her to tell you how she felt about you.” 

__

“I don’t think that’s really the same thing,” he mutters. For one thing, that’s not real. 

__

“It’s not all that different. She had anxiety about her feelings for you and it prevented her from talking to you about them.” She looks at him with steady eyes. “It’s not about you, it’s about her. Sometimes she just gets scared and needs to know it’s safe to be vulnerable.” 

__

It doesn’t really sound like Marinette to him. She’s the bravest person he knows! 

__

But...she’s told him that she finds it hard to say the really important things. That she envies how easily he’s able to express himself. And she never did confess to that boy she was in love with. 

__

Maybe he doesn’t know her as well as he thinks. 

__

“I guess I’m just so used to thinking of her as brave that it’s hard to imagine her being afraid to talk to me about something.” 

__

“Adrien,” she says and her eyes are impossibly gentle, even as her tone suggests disbelief. “She was so overwhelmed by her feelings for you that she couldn’t talk to you properly for a year.” 

__

“She _what?_ ” he blurts before he can stop himself. 

__

Sabine’s eyebrows knit together. “You didn't know?” 

__

“No, I mean, um—” Adrien struggles to remember what exactly they told people about their supposed confessions. He doesn’t think they ever got specific, just vaguely said “we loved each other the whole time” but obviously that was supposed to mean that Marinette developed feelings for him (after the reveal) when they became closer, right? Before that he’d been pretty sure she didn’t even like him all that much. “She - she said she’d been in love with me since collège?” That was safe enough, right? “But, I mean, I figured the feelings came later, after we'd been friends for a bit. I thought she didn’t like me at first.” 

__

“Does she know you think that?” 

__

“No? I mean, there didn’t seem much point in bringing it up...it doesn’t really matter now.” He shrugs. 

__

“I think it does,” she says. “And I think I understand a little better now why you’re in such a hurry.” 

__

He swallows uncomfortably. How much has he given away? 

__

She looks at him with considering eyes and her mouth twists some more. Finally, she says, “Marinette's heart isn't fickle." 

__

"I...I know that." 

__

"She's loved you since you gave her that umbrella. That's not going to change just because something happened." 

__

"She told you about that?" 

__

“She came home gushing about the cute new boy in her class who was so sweet to her after she’d yelled at him for something that wasn’t his fault.” 

__

He rubs the back of his neck. “She called me cute? I mean—” he coughs “—I’m a model, of course she thinks I’m cute.” 

__

The look she levels at him tells him she sees right through his bravado. 

__

“Marinette thinks you’re cute and thoughtful and kind and funny. She thinks the world of you and has for a long time.” 

__

His face feels suddenly warm. 

__

“We thought it was sweet at first, seeing how worked up she got over her first serious crush. Little did we know you’d be announcing your engagement in a few years!” 

__

“Heh, yeah...” 

__

“My point in sharing this with you, dear, is that you need to trust Marinette. Even when she seems to be pushing you away. She’s loved you for a very long time. She’s not going to suddenly change her mind just because of a misunderstanding or change or unexpected development between the two of you.” 

__

His chest aches with the hope that bursts within him. 

__

What if...what if the reason it’s so believable that she’s in love with him is the same reason everyone believes he’s in love with her? Because it’s true? 

__

"I - I should go talk to her." 

__

"I think that's a good idea," Sabine says. "And I trust you to support Marinette no matter what she decides about this... development between you. Tom and I will support you both as well. No matter what you decide." 

__

"Thanks," he says. He has no idea what she's talking about, but that's not important right now. 

__

If there's even a chance... 

__

The second he's out of the bakery, he runs to a nearby alley and transforms. 

__

He needs to see Marinette right away. 

__

Marinette was actually, legitimately in love with him back in collège. 

__

Is it really that simple? Were they really in love with each other the whole time? 

__

Collège was years ago now but Adrien’s feelings haven’t changed at all since then. If anything, he’s only fallen more and more in love with her the more he’s gotten to know her. 

__

Is it so crazy to think that maybe it’s the same for her? 

__

What if he was right the first time? 

__

Maybe they got so carried away with that kiss because it really was mutual. 

__

Maybe she’s been just as scared of making things awkward between them. 

__

Maybe she didn’t realize just how welcome her confession would be. 

__

Maybe...maybe she’s still in love with him too. 

__

Chat Noir leaps from building to building, heart near to bursting in his chest, anticipation filling him with boundless energy. 

__

He can’t wait to see her. To talk to her. To tell her that he loves her. 

__

Maybe she still loves him. Maybe she wants this as much as he does. Maybe he’ll tell her he loves her and she’ll say she loves him too and throw herself into his arms and kiss him like she did yesterday. 

__

And maybe... maybe they can get married for real. 

__

He lands on their balcony and takes a deep breath to steady himself before letting himself into their bedroom. The bedroom door is closed. He walks towards it, heart pounding in his chest. 

__

_This is it. This is it. This is it this is it this is it this is_ — 

__

But he hasn’t taken more than a step into the room before his sensitive cat ears pick up her voice out in the living room. It brings him up short. 

__

“Alya—” 

__

Right, Alya’s over. In his excitement he forgot. But that’s fine, he’ll just go back out the way he came, detransform, and come in through the front door. 

__

"—this is seriously the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s so hard. I thought I could handle this, but...I can’t. It’s a disaster and I’m a mess. We haven’t even made it to the wedding yet and then there’s probably another year of this after that and I’m afraid I’m going to lose my mind before it’s up.” 

__

“Marinette—” 

__

“It’s torture!” she yells. “He needs me to do this and I said I would, but it’s just been awful. We’re together all the time and he’s—” 

__

Adrien doesn’t hear anymore over the sudden rushing in his ears. He turns and rushes out of the apartment without making the conscious decision to leave. 

__

Sabine was wrong. (This shouldn't surprise him. When did he start believing that parents know their children?) Marinette doesn’t love him. Of course she doesn’t. He’s not sure how he even let himself believe it in the first place. 

__

This is his fault. He never should have asked her to marry him. He's always asking too much of her. And then as if that wasn’t enough, he’d pushed too far yesterday. 

__

Although, it sounds like he made a mess of things before that. He knows he hasn’t been the perfect roommate, he’s made a lot of mistakes even though he was trying _so_ hard. 

__

He'd thought he was doing an okay job though. Now it's clear he was only lying to himself. 

__

Why wouldn't she tell him she's unhappy? Doesn't she trust him? 

__

Apparently not. 

__

That thought hurts most of all. 

__

Years of holding in his feelings against his every overwhelming urge to confess to her over and over again only to screw it all up anyway. 

__

He takes off with no real destination or direction in mind. 

__

He just needs to run. 

__

* * *

__

Marinette wraps her arms around her knees and tries to focus her attention on Alya, but it’s a struggle when her thoughts are such a confusing, jumbled mess. 

__

Alya’s trying to talk with her about the wedding, and it’s sweet, her best friend is excited for her. She wants to be excited too. But the smile she's forcing onto her face keeps turning brittle and falling off again. How is she supposed to pretend that she’s happy when she just wants to burst into tears? 

__

“Do you need help with anything before the wedding?” Alya asks. 

__

She shakes her head. “We’ve got it covered.” 

__

“Well, good for you. I know who to call when it’s my turn,” she says with a wink. 

__

“Yeah,” she says without any real enthusiasm. 

__

When she first jumped into his arms and he was looking up at her, he really looked like he wanted her to kiss him. 

__

“So, you’ve got the flowers all picked out now?” 

__

“Yeah,” she agrees absently. 

__

Obviously they’ve kissed before. Lots of kisses, really, in selling their "relationship". 

__

“With you doing a cherry blossom motif on your dress, what kind of flowers are you doing for your bouquet?” 

__

“Uh huh.” 

__

But those were all relatively chaste. 

__

“And you’re really planning on singing your wedding vows?” 

__

“Mm.” 

__

The Kiss was...not. 

__

She’s so stupid. What was she thinking, kissing him like that? Things are so awkward now. She let her jealousy get the best of her again. 

__

“And you’re not even listening to me, are you?” 

__

“Yeah.” 

__

And the worst of it is that all she can think about is how much she wants to do it ag— 

__

“Marinette!” Alya snaps. 

__

She blinks, jarred from her thoughts 

__

Oh, right. 

__

“Sorry,” she says sheepishly. 

__

“Girl, what is with you? You’re getting married in a week. You should be giddy! I should be begging you to shut up about all of this. Instead it’s like pulling teeth.” 

__

“Wedding stress?” she offers weakly. 

__

“What’s to be stressed about? You’re having the most low-key wedding ever.” Alya frowns. “Are you getting cold feet? Because you shouldn’t. You two are perfect for each other. I know everything’s happened really quickly, but it’s going to be okay. You’ve got a solid foundation of friendship and while you only admitted how you felt recently, the feelings aren’t new. They’re not going to change suddenly or—” 

__

“It isn’t real,” she blurts. 

__

“What?” 

__

Marinette buries her face in her hands. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you this but I can’t do this anymore! Adrien and I aren’t really together. We’ve just been pretending so that Adrien can get access to his trust fund and his dad can’t control him anymore.” 

__

Alya blinks at her in stunned silence for several seconds. “I don’t believe it.” 

__

She uncovers her face to glare. “Why would I lie about this?” 

__

“You’re seriously trying to tell me you’re not in love with him.” 

__

“Of course I’m in love with him! But he’s not in love with me and I was handling it. I was. We were fine! I’d accepted that we were just going to be friends and I was okay. And then _this_ happened and now I’m seriously losing it.” 

__

“Girl.” 

__

“Alya, this is seriously the worst thing I’ve ever done in my life. It’s so hard. I thought I could handle this, but...I can’t. It’s a disaster and I’m a mess. We haven’t even made it to the wedding yet and then there’s probably another year of this after that and I’m afraid I’m going to lose my mind before it’s up.” 

__

“Marinette—” 

__

“It’s torture!” she yells. “He needs me to do this and I said I would, but it’s just been awful. We’re together all the time and he’s constantly helping out around the apartment and he listens to me when I have an issue and we sleep _cuddled up together_ in the same bed and how am I supposed to deal with that?? All day every day I see how perfect we would be together and I have to pretend like it’s fine that none of it is real. And I just don’t—” 

__

“Stop,” Alya orders, planting her hand firmly over Marinette’s mouth. 

__

Marinette stops talking. She looks down at the hand then back to Alya then down at the hand again. Did she seriously just do that? 

__

“You cannot seriously believe that boy isn’t head over heels in love with you,” she says. 

__

“He’s not,” she says - or tries to say. It comes out muffled. 

__

Alya seems to understand her anyway because she rolls her eyes. “I know you’re smarter than that. Trust me, that boy is stupid in love with you.” 

__

“Alyaaaa,” she whines against her friend’s hand, but Alya just shakes her head at her. 

__

“No, I’m going to talk and you’re going to listen. I’ll move my hand but you have to agree to hear me out and wait until I’m finished to talk. Agreed?” 

__

She nods and Alya removes her hand. 

__

“As I was saying, Adrien is absolutely, positively, one hundred percent in love with you. I can see it, Nino can see it, our friends all see it, all of Paris sees it and I’m pretty sure that if we went to another city or another country they’d see it too. And, before you even think about trying to interrupt me, this was clear way before you two started this whole ridiculous pretending to pretend to be in love thing. 

__

“So! Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to calm the heck down. You’re going to change into something nice. You’re going to make dinner or something to pass the time so that you don’t go crazy waiting. And then, when Adrien comes home, you’re going to _tell him you’re in love with him_. And then he’s going to tell you he loves you too and after you’re done climbing that boy like a tree you’re going to call me up so I can say _I told you so_.” 

__

“I really don’t think—” 

__

“ _And then_ ,” Alya continues relentlessly, “you two are going to get married _for real_ and in a few years’ time when you’re still ridiculously in love and you would have gotten married if you were normal people you’re going to have a big crazy over the top vow renewal with some of that trust money, and you can give a big speech letting everyone know that it’s all thanks to me.” 

__

Marinette’s quiet for several long seconds. 

__

“You really think he’s in love with me?” she asks quietly. 

__

“Marinette, Adrien thinks you hung the moon. _Yes_ , I really think he’s in love with you. And you’ll know that for yourself once you talk to him. Seriously, why haven’t you confessed already?” 

__

Marinette bites her lip, but doesn’t say anything. She can’t bring herself to meet Alya’s eyes. 

__

“Marinette?” 

__

She gives a little shrug. 

__

Alya touches her shoulder. “Talk to me. What’s going on?” 

__

“I’m scared,” she admits in a small voice. 

__

“What are you so scared of?” 

__

“What if he says no? He’s so important to me and we’ve been friends for so long...what if I mess everything up?” 

__

“Exactly, you’ve been friends for a long time and, Marinette, even if you don’t believe that Adrien’s in love with you, you have to trust that your friendship is important to him. You know that much at least, right?” 

__

“But that’s why I can’t risk it!” 

__

“No,” Alya says gently. “That’s why there’s nothing to risk. Because Adrien would never ever let anything take away one of his friends, especially not a friend as important to him as you.” 

__

She sucks in air. Alya’s right, she knows she’s right. But... 

__

"It'll really hurt." 

__

"I know, M. And I get being afraid of that, I do. But you've been doing the emotional equivalent of slowly peeling off a bandaid for years now. Isn't it better to get it over with?" She smiles gently. "I really don't think he will, but if it comes to that, I think it'll give you the closure you need to move on." 

__

Marinette rubs her hands together anxiously. “And what if he says yes?” 

__

“Isn’t that what you want?” 

__

“I don’t - I don’t even know. I just know that once it’s out there I can’t take it back and things will change and maybe it’ll be a good change but maybe it won’t be but either way things will be _different_ and every time I think about it I get so overwhelmed I feel like I’m going to die!” 

__

Alya rubs Marinette’s shoulder comfortingly. 

__

“Things are changing anyway. Don’t you want to have some say in how they change?” 

__

* * *

__

Marinette is making dinner in their tiny galley kitchen, the fan loud enough that she doesn't hear Adrien arrive home until he joins her near the stove. 

__

“Hey you,” she says, heart pounding in her chest. She hopes she sounds more composed than she feels with her confession burning in her chest. Can she really do this? “I hope you're in the mood for stew.” 

__

He rubs the back of his neck. “Can we talk?” 

__

Ah, right. He’s been wanting to talk to her since The Kiss yesterday, and she’s been avoiding it. But she’s ready now. Or at least she thinks she’s ready. She’s ready enough. 

__

Maybe she can use this to tell him how she feels? 

__

“Yeah, cove orse. I mean, of course!” 

__

“Plagg, Tikki, do you think maybe you could give us some privacy?” he asks, and now Marinette is concerned. 

__

She watches their kwamis leave with a sinking feeling in her stomach. They tell their kwamis everything. They were there for The Kiss. What does he need to say to her that he can’t say in front of Tikki and Plagg? 

__

She's still looking towards the bedroom in the direction their kwamis went when he says “I think maybe we should consider calling off the wedding." 

__

“WHAT.” Marinette drops her wooden spoon into the pot in her shock. Recovering quickly, she turns off the stove and pushes the pot off the burner. Clearly this is not a conversation to be had around boiling liquids. 

__

“Maybe we should think about calling off the wedding?” he repeats. 

__

She turns back to face him. “What are you talking about, Adrien?” 

__

“I just think that maybe you were right, back when I first suggested this?” he says. He won’t meet her eyes, while she can only stare at him in disbelief. “That, you know, I didn’t properly consider all of my options. And, heh, what kind of moron figures that getting married is the best way of dealing with a little family drama, right?” 

__

“And you’re deciding this now??” 

__

He rubs the back of his neck again. “Wouldn’t it be better if we called it off? You can’t want to get married to me.” 

__

“What I want,” she says through gritted teeth, “is to follow through on the plan _we agreed on_ to get you out from under your father’s shoe!” 

__

“But there has to be a better way, right? I just...don’t want to put either of us in a situation where we’re unhappy. Faking feelings that you don’t feel is really difficult.” 

__

“Yes, thanks, I’m aware of that," she says pushing past him and stomping into the main living area. Her skin feels tight and the apartment is suddenly too crowded and she just _needs some space_. "Tell me, Adrien, is it more or less difficult than having no control over your own life and being shipped all over the planet?” 

__

He follows behind her, arms raised placatingly. Somehow it makes her even angrier. Like he thinks she's overreacting when he’s the one throwing out months of planning with no warning. 

__

“I’m just trying to get us to think of other options. Sometimes a thing seems like a good idea, but then you learn more, and then you realize it’s not such a good idea and change your mind, right? So maybe we should just...pump the brakes.” 

__

“Oh, I’m well aware of how changeable your mind is,” she snaps. 

__

“What?” 

__

Ah, she didn't mean to say that! This isn't about her unrequited feelings or her missed chance. This is about Adrien messing up their plan to get him out from his horrible father's control. 

__

She struggles to keep her voice even when she wants to yell, and somehow she manages it, though her voice shakes. 

__

“The time to think about other options was months ago when you sprung the idea on me. I suggested a whole bunch of different things then and you didn’t want to do any of them.” 

__

“Maybe we were too hasty! Maybe we should go over them again with fresh eyes.” 

__

“It’s too late!” she yells, beyond frustrated with him. 

__

“Please don’t be upset with me,” he says softly. “I’m trying to do the right thing here.” 

__

“Explain to me how you came to the conclusion that blowing the entire plan after _months_ when we’re so close to the wedding day is the right thing. Because I don’t even understand where any of this is coming from!” 

__

“I heard you talking to Alya,” he tells her softly. 

__

The world stops. 

__

“What?” 

__

Is that tiny, pathetic rasp really her voice? 

__

“I came home early and I heard you and Alya talking and you were telling her...” he trails off, swallowing hard. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to eavesdrop on the two of you and I wish you had been honest with me about how you were feeling. But Marinette, now that I know how you feel, I can’t ignore it.” 

__

Her heart drops straight through the floor. 

__

She always knew— _knew!_ —that if she ever confessed to Adrien, that he would be gentle with her. 

__

And now the very first thing he wants to do after learning about her feelings is call everything off. 

__

Nothing about this feels gentle. 

__

“I wish you had just...talked to me. We could’ve...” He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. “I don’t know, but it would’ve been better.” 

__

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I was afraid to tell you.” 

__

“Don’t you trust me?” He looks at her with sad eyes, and she can’t bear to meet them. 

__

She looks away. An hour ago she would’ve said yes, but the words to assure him of her trust just won’t come when he’s in the middle of breaking her heart. 

__

“Right,” he says, sounding defeated. “We can’t get married now. I won’t - it wouldn’t be right.” 

__

She takes a deep breath and does her best to pull herself together enough to finish the conversation without breaking down. She forces herself to look at him, even though it hurts. 

__

“I...I don’t have another plan, Adrien. We’re locked into this lease now and we’re going to run out of money... unless you have some other idea you haven’t told me about?” 

__

He shakes his head. 

__

“Then I don’t see that we really have a choice. We’re trapped. We _need_ to get married now. We...we just need to push our feelings aside and follow through. We don’t have any choice.” 

__

He looks absolutely devastated by her pronouncement, and the look on his face wrenches at her, claws at her bleeding heart, tears at the tattered remains of her self-possession. 

__

“It’s - I never wanted this," Adrien chokes. "I’m so sorry. I never should have asked you to do this. I should've - I wish I'd just given my miraculous to someone else and left." 

__

She gasps. 

__

He promised. 

__

He promised he would never leave her again. 

__

Even in her worst catastrophizing what would happen if she ever told him the truth about how she feels, she never, ever truly believed he would actually want to leave her. But obviously he feels betrayed that she kept it from him. 

__

This is her fault. He’s always been honest with her. And how has she repaid that honesty? She lied about her feelings and tricked him into agreeing to marry her without knowing the whole truth. Of course he’s upset about that. Upset enough to want to bail on the plan to free him from his father. Upset enough to give up the ring, give up being Chat Noir. 

__

She’s ruined everything. She’s going to be completely and utterly alone. How can she even be Ladybug without him as her partner? How can she be the Guardian without him here to support her? 

__

He wants to leave her. 

__

The thought loops through her head over and over again without relief: she's losing him she's losing him she's losing him she's losing him she's losing— 

__

Her throat closes up and she can't speak. 

__

She can’t do this. 

__

Without another word she runs out of the apartment. 

__

* * *

__

Ahh, there. 

__

There’s the negative emotions he’s been searching for! 

__

He can feel...the sting of rejection, the burn of betrayal, the desolation of losing the one you love. And threaded through it all is powerful fear and pain. 

__

It’s magnificent. 

__

He sends out his akuma...and swells with satisfaction when it makes contact. 

__

This is the one he’s been trying after for so long. 

__

And now he has her. 

__

He drinks in Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s devastation with a sense of triumph. 

__

She will be his ultimate champion. 

__

Ah, so much for him to work with. 

__

He drinks in her anger and frustration at her unresolved fight, drinks in her fear of losing the one she loves most, drinks in the sweet pain of unrequited love— 

__

_Wait..._

__

The flush of victory gives way to incoherent rage. 

__

How. Dare. He. 

__

Adrien’s been _lying_ to him. 

__

It was bad enough to deal with his son’s disobedience and rebelliousness when he thought he was blinded by romantic passions. But this—! 

__

To fake an entire relationship, to pretend an engagement! And all with the explicit motivation of subverting Gabriel’s wishes. 

__

How. Dare. He. 

__

Well, Adrien is about to learn that he is not so easily hampered, his will not so easily thwarted. Disobedience has a price and he will ensure his son pays it in full. 

__

“Verity Queen, I am Hawkmoth," he speaks directly into her mind. He feels her pathetic attempts at resistance and presses forward, speaking his poison into her mind to bend her to his will. "Your lies have cost you the one you love. If only you'd been honest from the start... if only you’d told him your true feelings... You hurt him by keeping these secrets and telling so many lies, and now you’ve lost him. But I can help you. I can give you the power to fix it.” He feels her resistance weakening and grins, pressing onward. “I'm granting you the power of truth. Once all the secrets and lies are laid bare, then there will be nothing to keep you apart. That’s what you want, isn’t it? I only ask one thing in return...you will pull the truth from Adrien Agreste.” 

__

Her resistance breaks. 

__

“Yes, Hawkmoth.” 

__

* * *

__

Adrien stares after Marinette. 

__

That went badly. That went really, _really_ badly. 

__

How is he so bad at this? 

__

Should he go after her? Maybe she just needs a little bit of time to herself, like he did earlier. 

__

Although...clearly Adrien should have taken more time to really think through what he was going to say. 

__

He’s just not sure how it went so wrong. Marinette is struggling with pretending to be in a relationship with him...or maybe it’s just living with him that she hates. (“ _It’s torture!_ ” her voice echoes in his mind and he flinches.) He wanted to give her an out. 

__

Adrien knows he shouldn’t have said what he did about wishing he’d left. He hurt her when he renounced his miraculous all those years ago in New York. He knows that. He promised he’d never leave again. That’s why he came up with this crazy plan in the first place! 

__

It’s just...he would rather give up being Chat Noir than hurt her. For a long time, being Chat Noir was his only freedom. But the idea of obtaining his freedom by taking away Marinette’s, by _trapping_ her— 

__

Even thinking about it is too much. 

__

He can’t— 

__

His thought is abruptly cut off as the living room window bursts inwards, the explosion throwing him backwards. 

__

Before he has the chance to get his bearings, a pair of small hands fist themselves in his shirt and haul him to his feet. 

__

Adrien blinks dazedly as a familiar face comes into focus...except it’s wrong. 

__

The sparkling blue eyes he loves so much are grey and cold. 

__

Her hair is loose, longer than usual, and vantablack. 

__

When he takes in the rest of her, the first thing he notices is that she’s naked, although her skin is paper white and her body is covered with strategically placed ribbons. The ribbons vary in shades of grey from almost-white to not-quite-black. He’s never been less enticed by her body. 

__

He’s not stupid, but his mind is refusing to put the pieces together, refusing to accept the evidence of his eyes. _This can’t be real. This is a nightmare._

__

“Marinette?” he whispers. 

__

“Not anymore,” she tells him coldly. “It’s Verity Queen now.” 

__

Oh shit. 

__

He fucked up. 

__

He fucked up bad. 

__

He fucked up so much worse than he thought. 

__

She drags him out the ruined window and flies them up to the roof. He realizes, to his horror, that their kwamis are still back in their apartment. 

__

Hawkmoth has akumatized Ladybug. 

__

Plagg is too far away for him to transform. 

__

He can’t bring in reinforcements with the miracle box too far away for him to access. 

__

He’s on his own and Paris is in So. Much. Trouble. 

__

The flutter of wings attracts his attention and he turns his head to see the arrival of hundreds of black butterflies, which come together to form Hawkmoth’s head. Hawkmoth hasn’t tried this particular trick since Stoneheart. 

__

It’s over, then. 

__

Hawkmoth knows he has them. 

__

Hawkmoth has won. 

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Content Warnings:**  
>  _ **Non-consensual feeling up:**_ Lila and Adrien are doing a photoshoot together and she gets overly handsy. She mostly touches his chest and neck. She undoes a button of his shirt. He touches her bare thigh. There's a suggestion that she tries to touch him below the belt but it doesn't succeed. It's clear from the narrative that he's uncomfortable.
> 
> If you want to skip this, stop reading at "It starts innocuously enough" and resume at "She grits her teeth." All you need to take away is that Gabriel seems pleased with the fact that Adrien and Marinette are unhappy and uncomfortable, and Marinette thinks that 1) this is his way of punishing them and 2) he wants to upset her.
> 
>  _ **Spice/Mild Sexual Content:**_ Detailed makeout scene between Adrien and Marinette. It's just kissing although he does move his hands to support her by the butt at one point. Veiled reference to arousal. 
> 
> If you're not comfortable reading such scenes, stop reading at "She presses her lips to his" and start again after the following scene break. All you need to take away is that they get carried away and the kiss gets out of hand.
> 
> *  
> *  
> *  
> *  
> *
> 
> 👀👀👀👀👀
> 
> So...that happened. Don't hate me? 
> 
> One chapter left to fix this mess.
> 
> Yell at me all you want in the comments 😉


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Marinette,” Adrien says, keeping his voice soft, carefully keeping any sign of his fear and panic from bleeding in. “I’m sorry that we fought. But we can work this out, just the two of us. You don’t need Hawkmoth.”
> 
> She looks at him with impassive eyes. “There have been too many lies for that.”
> 
> “No,” he insists. “I wouldn’t—” _lie to you_ , he means to continue, but his voice chokes off and he can’t get the words out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The conclusion of this rollercoaster ride. Thank you so much to all of my readers for their support and encouragement. I've never written anything this long and complex on my own before and I'm so, so grateful to those of you who took a chance on this when it was just a WIP from a new writer to the fandom. ♥♥♥

_Think_. Adrien needs to think. 

He needs a plan, some way out of this, some way to save her. 

It’s not fair. Marinette is the one with the brilliant plans, the one whose mind makes fantastic leaps and bounds to connect the most unconnected pieces to pull some scheme together and save the day. 

But she’s caught ( _his fault_ ) and Paris is left with just him to somehow find a way out. 

More importantly, _she_ is counting on him. 

He looks around, but his eyes don’t find anything to help him, his mind makes no brilliant leaps of logic. 

Well, when in doubt, try to buy some time. 

“Marinette,” he says, keeping his voice soft, carefully keeping any sign of his fear and panic from bleeding in. “I’m sorry that we fought. But we can work this out, just the two of us. You don’t need Hawkmoth.” 

She looks at him with impassive eyes. “There have been too many lies for that.” 

“No,” he insists. “I wouldn’t—” _lie to you_ , he means to continue, but his voice chokes off and he can’t get the words out. 

Her smile is a slight, cold thing. “Hawkmoth has given me the power to ensure we can’t lie to each other anymore.” She tilts her head down and Adrien follows her gaze to the ribbon wrapped around his waist. 

He swallows. Why is she so fixated on lies and truth? And enough to get akumatized over it? He knows he hasn’t been entirely honest with her but he didn’t expect this. 

“Talk to me,” he says. “Help me understand why you’re so upset.” 

“You know why.” 

“Because I said I should’ve left?” 

“You can’t leave me,” she says. “I won’t let you. I have the power to keep us together now.” 

“I don’t want to leave you. You don’t need Hawkmoth for that, Marinette.” 

“Don’t call me that. That’s not my name anymore,” she says. Her eyes narrow. “Tell me the truth. How do you feel about me?” 

The ribbon pulses around him and it hurts. 

The sting of it shocks him and he blurts “I love you!” before he can think to resist. 

Well, that’s not so bad. He’s told her that before. 

Marinette’s cold grey eyes narrow. “Tell me everything you feel for me.” 

Oh no. 

He’s prepared for the pain this time, and he tries to fight the pull. And if it was only pain, he could resist. He can withstand pain. But it’s more than pain, it’s compulsion, and although he tries, he has no resistance to offer magical coercion. 

“I - I - I - I’m in love with you,” comes spilling out first, the easiest of his secrets. But once the magic has overcome that initial fight, the rest comes tumbling out after, and he has no power to stop it. “I just want you to be happy. I love that we’re friends but I want so much more than that. I want it all - I want to date you and kiss you and make love to you and cuddle you and marry you and have a family with you. I think about you all the time. I think about you—” _oh no_ “—when I’m alone. When you’ve gone out for the day or I’m in the sh—” 

By some act of mercy, the pressure releases and he clamps his jaw tight to stop any more words from spilling out. Mortification burns hot in his chest and he can feel it spilling across his face to the tips of his ears. 

“You keep so many secrets from me, my love,” Marinette says. What? “Why haven’t you told me any of this before?” 

The ribbon pulses around him. 

“I didn’t think you wanted me to. And I was so happy when you were finally comfortable around me and we became such close friends I didn’t want to mess it up or make you uncomfortable around me. I would’ve told you if I thought there was a chance you felt the same way. It’s not like I never told you before - you were clear about your feelings.” 

“But I wasn’t,” she says. “I’ve been in love with you for years.” 

Wait. _What?_ Is she telling the truth? Is she bound by her own powers? Or is this just part of the psychological torture Hawkmoth has planned for him? 

He swallows. He can’t get distracted. He needs to focus on the problem at hand. 

“I’d rather hear that from you when you’re yourself,” he says. “I want you back the way you were.” 

“Weak? A liar?” 

“Warm. Kind.” 

“A liar,” she repeats. 

“You don’t need Hawkmoth to choose to be honest with me,” Adrien insists. “You don’t need Hawkmoth at all. You can fight this, Marinette.” 

She shakes her head. “No, I need to keep you with me.” 

“Is this really what you want? To control me? To keep me as a prisoner like my father?” 

Something flickers across her face—he’d hoped the comparison would spark something in her—but before he can press the advantage he’s sure he’s found, the head of akumas interrupts them. 

“Enough of this,” it says with Hawkmoth’s voice. “Ask him about the things that really matter, Verity Queen. No more questions about feelings.” 

Adrien swallows. Oh shit. 

“What’s the justification for your duplicity?” Hawkmoth continues. “Why did you fake this engagement?” 

That’s...not where he thought this was going. 

“What?” he blurts. 

Is Hawkmoth some kind of deranged fan of his? 

“Compel him to answer!” Hawkmoth hisses. 

The ribbon gives a little pulse and he answers, “I didn’t want to leave Marinette behind.” 

“You would betray your father for some woman? One who didn’t even have the courage to tell you her true feelings? I knew you were rebellious and disobedient, but I never knew you were so deceitful.” 

No, not a fan. 

There’s only one person who would ask these questions. 

Only one person who would care about this. 

Only one person who would respond with anger. 

It can’t be... 

He can’t think of any other possibility. 

“Father?” he asks, voice cracking. “You’re Hawkmoth?” 

Marinette releases him unexpectedly, and he falls to the ground. He stares up at Hawkmoth’s—his _father_ ’s—giant face as the butterflies shift to show him a smirk. 

“Did you really think I would allow you to impede my plans?” 

Adrien’s mind races as he tries to fit this new information together with everything else he knows. 

Father is Hawkmoth. 

Hawkmoth is his _father_. 

Father knows the relationship, the engagement, all of it is fake. 

He’s angry. 

He akumatized Marinette and is using her to get back at him. 

That means - that means - _what does that mean??_

It means it’s possible—maybe, somehow—that he doesn’t know. Not everything. 

It means that it’s not over yet. 

He’s afraid to even think about it too directly in case Verity Queen’s power pulls this thought from him and ruins any chance they might have. 

Is there anything he knows about his father that he can use here to save Marinette? 

Anxiety rises in his chest because when has he ever been able to persuade his father to do anything? 

“Well, Adrien?” Hawkmoth—his father—Hawkmoth— _Father_ prompts. “Nothing to say for yourself?” 

“You - you used your powers to akumatize Marinette because you’re mad at me?” he asks. 

“Your actions have consequences.” 

“That’s supposed to be for things that naturally follow! Like if you run around the pool, you’re likely to slip and fall. Not if you do something your father doesn’t like, he’s going to turn your fiancée into a mind controlled supervillain!” 

“But she’s not your fiancée.” 

“You didn’t know that when you did it! I - I know you’ve been trying to akumatize her for a while now, I just didn’t understand why. You set that gold akuma after her!” 

“I did what I had to do for our family. I have plans for you, Adrien, and I won’t allow anyone to interfere with them.” 

“Is that why you’ve hurt all of my friends?” He swallows. “Paris has over two million people but over and over again, you’ve akumatized the people around me: my classmates, my friends, the woman I love. I just - why?” 

“You’re still such a child,” Father says coldly instead of answering. 

“I’m eighteen.” 

“A child.” He hums considerably. “But you want to understand? I will show you. It will be part of your lesson.” His giant gaze shifts. “Verity Queen, bring Adrien to me.” 

“No!” Adrien blurts as Marinette takes hold of his upper arms. 

That’s pretty much the worst case scenario. Plagg and Tikki still haven’t made their way up to the roof, and he really doesn’t want to face Hawkmoth without the ability to transform. And certainly not with an akumatized Marinette. 

“No,” he says again, more gently this time. “Please, Father. She’s going to be upset after. Let her go so I can comfort her and then I’ll come over and you can show me whatever you want, I promise,” Adrien pleads. When his father doesn’t respond one way or another for several long seconds, he tries again. “I’m still under her power. You know I can’t lie to you right now. I want to be able to comfort her afterwards. I don’t want her to be more scared than she needs to be. _Please_.” 

His father has never cared about what’s important to Adrien, however. No matter how much he begs or pleads, it doesn’t matter. It never has. 

This time is no different. 

“No,” he says, and it cuts Adrien, just like it does every time. “I’m not finished with her yet.” 

“You’re Adrien’s father,” Marinette says in the hard, cold voice her akumatization has given her as her grip on Adrien tightens. “You want to take him away from me, but Adrien is mine. You can’t have him.” 

“You will bring him to me,” Hawkmoth insists and the giant head dissolves as the akumas fly away in the direction of the Agreste mansion. And then he must use his power because Marinette gasps and lets go of Adrien to clutch at her head. 

While she and Hawkmoth argue—an argument he’s only partially privy to—a blur of black catches his eye and then he feels a familiar weight under his shirt against his chest. 

_Plagg_. 

He wants to ask after Tikki, but he’s afraid to tip his hand. 

He takes a deep breath. 

“It’s okay, Marinette,” he says softly. “You can take me to him. I promise, as long as you want me, I’m not going to leave you.” 

She releases her head and straightens up. She must have conceded to Hawkmoth because she doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore. 

She sweeps him into her arms into a bridal carry and takes off into the sky. 

* * *

Returning to the mansion in the arms of an akumatized Marinette is...he doesn’t have a word for it. 

As she approaches a window he’s never noticed before—the mansion is big, sure, but how did he miss a window in his own home?—she says “hold on to me” and the second his arms tighten around her neck, she removes the arm supporting his back. He doesn’t see what she does, but then she makes a throwing gesture and the window bursts inwards. 

“Truth bomb,” she explains, before supporting his weight again and flying them into a room he’s never seen before. 

He doesn’t have time to reflect on her behaviour before she sets him down on his feet and he’s face to masked face with Hawkmoth. His father. 

He’s only using the butterfly miraculous, but the peacock is pinned to his chest beneath it. Adrien doesn’t see Duusu anywhere. 

“Was that really necessary?” Hawkmoth demands. 

Marinette remains impassive. “Truth finds a way.” 

His mouth twists with clear irritation, but he says nothing more on the subject. 

Adrien takes a breath for courage. “Okay, you have me here. Let her go now.” 

“Not yet,” Father says, looking satisfied in a horrible kind of way. “I want to show you something.” 

He turns and disappears down an elevator into the floor and, when it returns and at Marinette’s urging, Adrien follows. 

He leads them to a large underground cave? Bunker? He's not sure where they are. A thin metal bridge crosses some kind of valley with scaffolding on either side, and across the way, bright lights and lush greenery. As he gets closer, he sees that his father is standing next to a glass coffin. 

_Maman._

He sucks in a sharp breath. 

She looks exactly as she did the last time he saw her. She looks alive and real and _right there_. She looks like at any moment she’ll wake up, open her eyes and tell him she loves him in her sweet voice once again. 

He'd always assumed missing meant dead but now hope swells painfully in his chest. Could she be alive? 

His vision blurs and he can feel the wetness on his cheeks. No no no. He needs to pull it together. He can’t let his emotions overwhelm him. Not here. Not when his father is Hawkmoth. 

“Do you see now?” Hawkmoth asks. “Do you understand, now, why I’m doing this?” 

Adrien wipes at his face, fights back against the rest of the tears that want to fall. “I thought she was missing but - she was here? All this time?” 

Years of not knowing what had happened to his mother, of wondering, worrying, _grieving_ , all complicated by the complete lack of any understanding of why or how she had disappeared. And all of this time... 

“I’m going to save her. Once I have the ladybug and black cat miraculouses I’ll be able to make a wish. We’ll be a family again.” 

There was a time when that was what he wanted more than anything. His family whole and together. But— 

“And where do I fit in in all of this?” 

Father frowns. “You’re our son. You’re part of this family.” 

“You’ve barely spoken to me for the last six years. I - I made so many excuses for you. I thought you were depressed and mourning. I thought you needed my patience.” He shakes his head. “But you were just too busy terrorizing the city to bother with me.” 

“I’m trying to bring Emilie back. Don’t you love your mother?” 

“Of course I do. But you need to stop. Maman wouldn’t want this.” 

“You presume to know what she would want better than me?” Hawkmoth scowls. “I am her husband. You know nothing! I made a promise to her and I will keep it.” 

Adrien’s breath catches. His father has always been cold. As much as this new discovery hurts, it’s the kind of revelation that makes a sick sort of sense. But his mother...his memories of her are all warmth, love and affection. Would she really have supported this? 

“It doesn’t matter,” he says finally. “What you’re doing isn’t right.” 

“I don’t care about right,” he snaps. “I care about power!” Hawkmoth’s eyes go wide and Adrien’s pretty sure he didn’t mean to say that. He looks down at his leg, where Marinette has twined one of her ribbons. He turns to glare at her. “Stop that,” he hisses, kicking his leg in an attempt to dislodge the ribbon. 

It doesn’t move. 

“Truth allows no choice,” she says impassively. 

“I want the power to bring her back. Don’t you want your mother back?” 

“Of course I do,” he says. “I loved her too. I still miss her. But you’re hurting so many people. And you have to know the wish will have a price. Do you even know what it will cost?” 

“I will pay _any_ price,” Hawkmoth hisses. “I knew you were too soft for this. There’s a reason I never told you about my plans. I was going to tell you once, years ago, but before I could you said you were happy I had moved on and I decided you didn’t love your mother enough to deserve to know.” 

“What?” Adrien gasps. 

Father glares at Marinette. “I didn’t give you this power to use against me!” 

“That hardly seems fair,” she says in her even voice. So unlike his Marinette. “The truth must prevail.” 

“What happened to Maman?” Adrien asks. “How did she end up...” He gestures at the glass coffin. It’s so strange to see his mother’s face in person like this again. She looks so peaceful. 

“She - she used the peacock miraculous,” Hawkmoth says, scowling. He renews his attempts at dislodging Marinette’s ribbon as he talks, but it holds firm. “We didn’t know that it was damaged. It hurt her spirit, weakening her with every use. By the time we realized - it was too late.” 

“And you still used - no,” he breaks off, pieces he hadn’t wanted to put together fitting seamlessly in his mind. It’s been several years since the disappearance of Mayura, but with Hawkmoth’s identity revealed, there’s really only one possibility. “You still let Nathalie use it after that?” 

“It was her choice.” 

“She died for you!” Adrien exclaims. “I thought you loved her, or at least cared, but you let her die. You - you don’t - is there anyone you really care about? Anyone you love?” His voice cracks on the last word and his eyes sting. 

“I love Emilie. I love you.” His father’s voice is harsh. “And that’s why I’m doing what is necessary for our family.” 

Adrien exhales shakily. Until he’d said it, he really hadn’t expected that his father would be able to say he loved him while under Verity Queen’s power. Although...what does love mean to his father? 

And awfully, he has to ask - can he use this? 

“If - if you love me then let Marinette go,” he says. “You know that I love her and - and if you don’t—” He stops, takes a breath, tries again, and this time his voice is steady. “If you ever want to have any kind of relationship with me ever again, you’ll let her go.” 

“No,” Hawkmoth says flatly. “She’s much too powerful for that. With the power of truth I’ll have the miraculous for sure this time!” Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien sees Marinette’s hands twitch upwards. This could all come to a disastrous end so easily. Hawkmoth doesn’t seem to notice however, and he carries on without pause. “Like the truth, she’s unbreakable, unflinching, cold, hard and painful. Truth cannot be defeated. Truth is powerful and it prevails! And so will Verity Queen. I’ve come too far to give up now.” He clenches a fist in front of him and grins a terrible grin. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. Once I use the ultimate power, it will be like none of this ever happened.” 

“You want to rewrite reality,” he breathes. 

Everything makes a terrible kind of sense with that revelation. How reckless his father has been with Adrien's safety, despite believing that he loves him. Even his neglect. Why would he care what he’s put Adrien through when he plans to undo it all? 

There’s no point in trying to reason with him. He has no leverage against someone who wants to erase who he’s become. He needs to free Marinette before Hawkmoth realizes who she is and takes the earrings. He needs to keep him distracted from the miraculous. 

But how? 

“No,” Marinette says, before he’s figured anything out. “You’re going to separate us. I won’t let you!” She unwinds the ribbon around Adrien’s waist, and wraps it around Hawkmoth instead. Additional ribbons fly out, twisting around his arms, his neck, his other leg. 

“How dare you,” his father growls. 

“You promised me the power to keep him!” she says and the ribbons seem to glow. “So now I have questions for you. You're going to tell us everything. From the presents you stole to why you inflicted Lila on us yesterday but first—” 

He can feel Plagg pressing into his chest from his place inside Adrien’s chest. He presses a hand against him briefly. _Not yet._ Marinette tried to fight back once before and failed. It’s too early to know if now is the right time to reveal himself. 

“—what happens to me when you make your wish?” she asks. 

Hawkmoth grunts and groans and shudders. “You - you’ll be gone! I’ll make sure you never meet. No one can be allowed to break my family apart—” He makes a little jerking motion with his hand and cuts off abruptly. 

A little black butterfly emerges from Marinette’s engagement ring. Her form bubbles over, and then she collapses to the ground. Herself again. 

Adrien almost collapses with relief. 

But it’s not over yet. 

The akuma doesn’t return to its master. Instead it heads right for Adrien. 

“Father?” he gasps. He lifts a hand to protect himself, foolishly, since he knows that won’t stop an akuma, and then watches in horror as it lands and merges with his ring. 

Adrien feels the akuma’s energy overtake him, pressing against all the parts of him that make him himself. He can’t think past his hurt and his anger and his fear. 

“Mister Fixer, you’ve been hurt and neglected, but I can help,” says the voice in his mind. 

Help? Yes, he needs help. But there’s something...something he needs to remember. 

“The only thing you need to remember is that I’m the only one who can help you. I will give you the power to fix your family.” 

His family. Yes, his family is broken. He wants to fix it. But— 

“You’ve lost everyone that’s important to you. You’re alone and unloved. But it doesn’t have to be that way.” 

Wait. 

“No,” Adrien says, grabbing at his head, pushing back at this presence in his mind. It presses back at him and it hurts— _it really, really hurts_ —but he’s no stranger to pain. He can withstand this. 

He whimpers and falls to one knee under the force of it. 

He digs deep inside himself, looking for some shield against the mental onslaught. He wants a family. He wants to love and be loved. But he doesn’t need his father for that. His father can’t give him that. 

His mind pulls up a kitchen, with a little table, with a father who laughs and banters with him and a mother who listens and tells him his feelings matter. 

Parents who might not be his, but who love him anyway. 

And a woman who he loves more than anything, who loves him too, who maybe even loves him in the same way that he loves her. 

_Family_. 

He doesn’t need Hawkmoth’s power to fix what’s broken beyond repair. He has something new. 

“No, _Father_ ,” he hisses. “You can’t help me.” 

He watches the akuma retreat with mixed emotions. 

But all of them, the anger and the sadness and the satisfaction are replaced with confusion when he sees himself walk over to where Marinette is prone on the ground. 

This doesn’t make any sense. 

He looks around in his confusion and is startled at the faint green glow emanating from behind one of the denser trees, and behind that bright orange. 

He meets Rena Rouge’s eyes. 

“Come on,” she mouths, waving him over. 

“Please stop this, Father. This isn’t what Maman would want,” his own voice begs off to the side. 

“You know nothing about what your mother would want!” Hawkmoth snaps, staring in the direction of his illusion. 

Right, an illusion. Understanding dawns and he hurries over as quietly as possible. 

* * *

Alya sinks into the kiss. After leaving Marinette's earlier she texted Nino, asking to see him as soon as he finished his shift. When she offered to meet up with him at the store, he agreed. 

Hopefully Marinette texts her soon to tell her how her confession went. Or better yet - they'll be so caught up in making up for lost time that she won't hear from her until tomorrow... maybe even a day or two after that. 

For her part, though, she just wants to relish in her wonderful and completely ordinary, drama-free relationship. She's so lucky she and Nino found each other the way they did. 

"Mmm," Nino says before breaking away, smiling. "What brought this on?" 

"Just reminding myself how lucky I am." 

"Aww, babe! You're going to make me blush." 

"Like that ever takes much," she teases before planting a quick kiss on his lips. "Want to see if we can track down André while I tell you about how our friends are even stupider than we imagined?" 

"Please don't tell me Marinette's pregnant." 

"Of course not. You need to have sex for that." 

"What? Are they really not...?" 

"Babe, it's so much worse than that. They're not even together." 

"What?" Nino repeats, looking as surprised as she’d felt that afternoon. 

"I know, right?" Alya says and then fills him in on everything Marinette told her as they walk towards Les Invalides where André was last seen. 

"But... Adrien was so happy..." Nino says when she finishes. 

"Well hopefully he's about to get a lot happier. Marinette's going to—" 

"Alya! You need to come right away!" calls a high-pitched voice. 

They both look around in surprise. Who's looking for her now? It takes a second before she spots the tiny red kwami flying towards them. 

"You're - you're Ladybug's kwami!" she blurts when it lands in her hands. She quickly looks around to see if anyone's noticed it, but they seem to be okay. "Where's Ladybug?" 

For her part, the kwami seems too distressed to be concerned. "Hawkmoth has her! She trusts you. Please say you'll help. I didn't know who else to ask." 

"Of course we will," she promises. "What do you need us to do?" 

"We need to go to—" the kwami breaks off to burp little pink bubbles. "Just... follow me. Hurry." 

They follow the kwami down increasingly familiar streets until she leads them to a very familiar building. 

"This is—" 

"—Adrien and Marinette's place." 

"Please hurry!" 

"Um, Mlle Ladybug's Kwami, we don't have a—" the kwami flies through the door handle and the door opens "—key. Right, okay then." 

They follow her up to their friends' apartment and get inside the same way. 

Alya gasps when she takes in the wreckage of their living room. 

"Marinette? Adrien?" she calls. 

The kwami shakes her head. "They're gone. This way!" She leads them into Marinette's sewing room and lands on one of the train cases. "You need to open this." 

Alya bites her lip and then punches in the stylized "M" pattern Marinette uses as her password for everything. The train case opens to reveal nineteen coloured compartments holding fifteen miraculouses, confirming her suspicions. 

"Marinette's Ladybug," she breathes. 

"Whoa," Nino gasps. 

"We need to save her," the kwami begs. "Hawkmoth akumatized her and she took Adrien." 

"Right," Alya says, forcibly pushing aside thoughts of _just how bad did that confession go??_ She takes the fox miraculous and passes the turtle to Nino. "Sorry Trixx," she says when her kwami appears. "No time to catch up. Let's pounce!" 

When she and Nino have finished transforming, she turns to Marinette's kwami. "Do you know where Marinette and Adrien are?" 

She nods mournfully. "Hawkmoth had her bring Adrien to him. Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste." 

"Oh shit," Nino blurts. 

There'll be time to think on what this means later. Right now their friends need them. 

"Let's go." 

* * *

She let herself be akumatized. _She let herself be akumatized!_

She’s confused and disoriented and there’s a giant gap in her memory. One moment she was running up the stairs of their apartment building and the next she’s on the ground in an unfamiliar lair, listening to Adrien argue with Hawkmoth. 

_What did she do??_

She should be doing something now, but her limbs feel heavy and her head is foggy. She’s not sure if it’s the after-effects of the akuma or if it’s the result of the overwhelming fear coursing through her. 

She flinches when an arm goes around her, but relaxes when she looks up into goggle-covered eyes. She lets Carapace lift her into his arms and slip away with her until they're safely out of sight behind a large bush, where she finds Rena Rouge. 

Rena squeezes her arm comfortingly, but she’s clearly distracted, focusing on the confrontation playing out between Adrien and Hawkmoth. 

Right, Hawkmoth. She tries to think as Carapace gently sets her down. Vaguely she hears him call for Shellter, but she can’t think about that when she’s trying to unmuddle her thoughts. She needs to pull herself together so that she can transfor— 

With a gasp, her hands fly to her ears, and she almost cries with relief when she finds her miraculous still there. 

“Marinette!” Tikki cries, flying out of Rena’s hair and nuzzling Marinette’s cheek. Marinette cups her there, pressing into the contact. “I was so worried I lost you.” 

“I’m okay,” she murmurs. It’s not entirely true, but it’s true enough. The worst didn’t happen anyway. She glances over. Carapace looks completely unsurprised to see her cuddling the ladybug kwami. Rena Rouge isn’t paying them any mind. Well, her brain isn’t so clouded she can’t piece that together. “They know then?” 

Tikki nods mournfully. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what else to do.” 

Any response she might have had to that goes flying from her head when Carapace drops the Shellter so Adrien can join them, then quickly reestablishes it. Tears spring to her eyes at the sight of Adrien looking at her with clear relief. The last time she remembers seeing him was that horrible argument and then she allowed herself to be akumatized. He must be so disappointed in her. 

“I’m so sorry,” she says quietly, eyes downcast. “Whatever I said or did—” 

He pulls her into his arms fiercely and she melts into the comfort of his embrace. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” he growls into her hair. “I love you. I’m so sorry for what I said. I never meant to hurt you.” 

“I know you two need to talk but this really isn’t the time. I can only keep him occupied so long before he’s going to catch on,” Rena interrupts and reluctantly they break apart. 

Adrien laces his fingers through hers and squeezes. She squeezes back. 

He turns to the others. “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what are you even doing here?” 

“Tikki.” 

“And what is all this?” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Carapace answers with a lopsided smile. “We’re buying you time so you two can save the day. Rena’s hiding us and distracting him with her Mirage and I’m using Shellter to keep him from sensing all the emotions that are coming from over here.” 

"How did you know he can sense emotions?" 

Carapace shrugs. "How else would he know who to akumatize?" 

“But—and I can’t stress this enough," Rena cuts in sharply, "we need to hurry before he realizes that he's not sensing any emotions from illusion Adrien and Marinette over there.” 

“Does she know yet?” Adrien asks, looking at Rena and Carapace. 

They shake their heads as Marinette asks “Know what?” 

“Hawkmoth...he’s my father.” 

She gasps. “So he _was_ targeting us...but not because he figured us out. Oh kitten, I’m sorry.” She throws her arms around his neck. “Are you okay to do this?” 

He pulls back so he’s meeting her eyes steadily when he nods. “Yeah," he says. "He's hurt so many people. He akumatized you because he was angry with me. I can't - I won't make excuses for him anymore. He needs to be stopped!" 

Her heart swells with pride. Her kitty is so strong and brave. 

“Okay.” She exhales. They can do this. Together. 

* * *

Ladybug calls for her Lucky Charm. A red and black-spotted toy car falls into her hands. 

She looks around, scrunching her nose as she thinks, while they watch her expectantly. 

“I think I know how to use this,” she says, “but I need him distracted and moving.” 

Chat exhales, hardly able to believe what he’s about to suggest. 

“Rena Rouge, I need you to make illusion Adrien transform,” he says. 

“You’re going to give away your identity?” 

“It’ll distract him. Especially when - especially when illusion Chat Noir tries to destroy my mother’s coffin.” 

Ladybug rests a hand on his arm. “Are you sure you want to do that?” she asks gently. “I was thinking something positive - like your mother waking up.” 

Chat shakes his head. “My father is always skeptical of good things happening. But thinking badly of me - he won’t even question it.” 

“If you’re sure,” Ladybug says, biting her lip. 

At his nod, Carapace drops the shield. 

“I hate this family!” illusion Adrien yells. “Transform me!” There’s a flash of green and then illusion Chat Noir runs towards the glass coffin, yelling “You’ve already destroyed everything. Now it’s my turn. Cataclysm!” 

“No!” Hawkmoth shrieks, giving chase. 

Ladybug throws the little car and, with perfect luck, it rolls right under Hawkmoth’s foot as he runs. 

As he slips and falls backwards, Ladybug whips out her yoyo. It opens as it flies, just like it does when she’s capturing an akuma, only this time it’s the pair of brooches on Hawkmoth’s chest she snatches up. 

As Gabriel Agreste falls to the ground, Rena Rouge dispels her Mirage. 

Chat Noir walks over to his father. 

“It’s over.” 

* * *

Rena Rouge and Carapace don't need to accompany them back to their apartment, but they do anyway. When they make their way out to the living room, Adrien is relieved to see the miraculous cure fixed their window. 

They detransform and Nino wraps Adrien in a tight hug. "How are you holding up?" 

Adrien shrugs. "I'm not really sure, honestly. It's a lot." 

"You're going to need so much therapy." 

"Heh, yeah." 

"Not a joke, dude," Nino says, pulling back. "This is some heavy shit and your dad's been abusing you for years. I really think it'd be good for you to work through this stuff with someone who's trained. I mean, we're all here for you, you know that, but you're probably going to need someone who actually knows what they're talking about." 

Adrien flinches at the word "abusing". Even after everything, it's hard to hear and harder to admit to himself that it could be true. 

"I'll think about it," he says. 

Nino squeezes his shoulders, then let's go and heads to the kitchen. 

Adrien looks over at Marinette and Alya in time to see Alya finish whispering in her ear before pulling back with a wink and following Nino to the kitchen. 

"What did I do?" Marinette asks. "When I was akumatized." 

"It wasn't your fault." 

"That's not what I asked." 

Adrien swallows. He would want to know. And whatever she's imagining is probably worse. 

"You didn't do that much, honestly." He gives her a quick overview of what happened, although he can't bring himself to mention what she made him say about his feelings. He’d rather pretend it didn’t happen. And he’s not ready to talk about what she said about hers in case she tells him Verity Queen was lying to him. It’s enough for him to trust in their friendship again. "Once you turned your power on him he had no choice but to release you. You saved yourself." 

She gives him a weak smile as Nino and Alya return with two bowls of stew. 

"Here," Alya says, pressing a bowl into Marinette's hands while Adrien takes his bowl from Nino. "Looks like your ladybugs saved this too." 

"Oh," Marinette murmurs. "Thanks." 

"We're going to head out now. Eat, get some rest. We'll be back to check on you tomorrow." 

"Thanks," Adrien says. 

She blows them a kiss and Nino gives a little wave and then it's just the two of them. 

They eat in silence, shoulders pressed together. When they're finished, they get up and get ready for bed, all without a word. 

There's too much to say. He doesn't know where to start. 

And it's been such a long day. 

They climb into bed and Adrien pulls her into his chest right away, his face buried in her hair. She hugs him tight. 

"I'm here," she promises softly. 

They fall asleep like that. 

* * *

Marinette wakes the following morning still wrapped tight in Adrien's arms. She can pinpoint the exact moment he realizes she’s awake because his arms immediately loosen around her. 

They have a lot to discuss. 

She’s not sure what Adrien needs after everything with his father yesterday. 

And they still haven’t talked about their argument or what it means for their relationship. 

He hasn't been acting like he's still upset with her but that might just be because his need for a friend outweighs his anger. 

Well, best to deal with the first right now. The rest should probably wait for a better time anyway. Even if he was open to hearing about her feelings, she's sure it's not the time for that. 

She uses an arm to lift herself up so she can look at him better. She can’t quite bring herself to move away from him, although she probably should. 

"How are you doing?" she asks. 

He lifts a shoulder. "It doesn't really feel real. I knew things weren't great. Like I knew my father wasn't like your parents or Nino's. But I never thought..." 

"Of course not." 

"I probably should've, huh? Maybe if I'd been more suspicious we could've ended this a long time ago." 

"Kitty, no. You're not wrong for not wanting to think the worst of your father." 

"You did." 

"I thought he was a bad parent. I didn't think he was Hawkmoth! At least, I didn't after he akumatized himself..." She shakes her head. That's beside the point. "He's your father. You relied on him to love you and take care of you. None of this is your fault." 

Adrien looks away without saying anything. Gently, Marinette puts her hand on his cheek and turns his face back to hers. 

"I mean it," she insists before registering what she's done. Is that kind of thing allowed anymore? "Sorry," she blurts, pulling her hand back. 

His hand flies out to cover hers, pressing it back to his cheek. 

"Please don't pull away from me." 

"Sorry," she says again. "I - I just didn't know if this was okay." 

"Why wouldn't it be okay?" 

Looks like they're doing this now after all. 

"I just - yesterday - I mean—" She takes a breath, tries again. "You were upset. Yesterday. After you found out. About my feelings." 

"How _do_ you feel about me?" 

He's really going to make her say it? Her face burns. 

"You heard me talking to Alya. You already know," she whispers. 

"Tell me," he says, so soft. "Please." 

She could never deny him anything he asks for so sweetly. 

She licks her dry lips. 

"I love you," she whispers. His whole face goes soft and it fills her with warmth, gives her the courage to be clear. "I'm in love with you." 

He kisses her. A gentle press of lips that lingers just long enough to be felt. 

When he pulls back, she can't keep herself from blurting "Then you're not mad at me?" 

"Mad at you?" he echoes, brow furrowing. 

"That I didn't tell you. I thought you felt like I tricked you into agreeing to marry me." 

"Are we forgetting whose idea that was, bug? I'm pretty sure I tricked you." 

"Does this mean you..." 

"That I love you?" He smiles tenderly. "I never stopped." 

"O - oh," she breathes. "So we really have been in love with each other this whole time." 

He nods, smiling one of his heart stopping smiles. 

She just wants to kiss it off his face. And she can do that now. They love each other! Surely that means— 

"Wait," she blurts. "I don't understand. Yesterday learning how I felt made you want to call off the wedding and today you're all happy about it?" 

"I didn’t hear that part. All I heard was you telling Alya that living with me was torture." Did she really say that? "I would never want to force you to do something that makes you unhappy." 

"It was hard to see how perfect we are together when I thought I couldn't have you like that." 

He leans up, rubs their noses together. "You can have me any way you want." 

He blushes and she blushes too as the implications of what he said register. But he doesn’t pull away and neither does she, so they stay like that: eyes locked, noses brushing, cheeks pink, lips only centimeters apart. 

"And if I want everything?" she asks, tilting her head down until their lips are almost touching. 

"Yes please," he breathes. 

She can almost taste the sweet-sour scent of his morning breath and he can surely smell hers, but her embarrassment is overcome by how desperately she needs to kiss him right this instant. 

She’s done waiting. 

She closes the last bit of space between them, kisses him softly, sweetly, before pulling back. 

It hurts to do it, but she'd never forgive herself if she didn't. 

"Are you sure? I just - with everything - do you really want to start something right now?" 

"I mean... yesterday was a lot, I won't pretend it wasn't. But I already mourned my mom. This is just - I mean it sucks, and it hurts, but it's always going to hurt. I've learned to live with that." 

She rubs his shoulder, trying to give what comfort she can. 

"As for my father...the last couple of months, I didn't miss him. At all. Ever since Maman...died he's been pushing me away." 

"Oh Adrien..." 

"We barely had a relationship anymore but I was still willing to try. But then he went after _you_." He reaches up and strokes her cheek. "I'm through letting him keep me from what's important to me." He drops his hand. "But I know I'm kind of a mess. If all of that's too much for you, I'll understand. I mean—" 

"Sweetheart, no," she murmurs. "Nothing's going to change how I feel about you." 

He rolls them over and she giggles as he starts peppering her face with kisses, her heart swelling near to bursting at his display of affection. He pulls back to gaze at her with heated eyes. “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?” 

In answer, she reaches up and pulls his head down to kiss him again, intending to make this one count. 

"Should we come back later?" 

Marinette startles so violently that she and Adrien whack foreheads. She falls back against her pillow, rubbing her head, while Adrien rolls off of her. 

“Really, guys?” Adrien asks, sitting up and glaring. “You couldn’t come to the front door or, you know, _knock_?” 

“It’s kind of a media circus out there,” Alya says, releasing her transformation. “Sorry if we didn’t want to be spotted.” 

“You literally have the power of illusions.” 

“Media circus?” Marinette asks. 

Nino winces. “The police put out a statement about Adrien’s dad’s arrest.” 

“Oh,” he mumbles. 

“You two probably don’t want to leave the apartment for a few days,” Alya says. “And you’re probably going to need to push back the wedding because I can pretty much guarantee you’re going to get ambushed at City Hall.” 

Right. The wedding. 

Marinette pushes that thought aside. 

“Ladybug and Chat Noir will need to give a statement soon,” she says. 

They’d all given their statements to the police last night, of course, but the people will want to hear directly from their heroes. 

It looks like getting to enjoy their newfound mutual love will have to wait a little longer. 

* * *

Within a few days, the headlines have shifted from broadcasting Hawkmoth’s identity and defeat to, well, _them._

> **_ADRIEN AGRESTE AND FIANCÉE CANCEL WEDDING_ **

> **_PAJAMA GIRL’S DREAM TURNS TO NIGHTMARE: CALLS OFF WEDDING WITH HAWKMOTH’S SON_ **

> **_I DON’T: HAWKMOTH IDENTITY BOMBSHELL BOMBS AGRESTE WEDDING_ **

“We didn’t call it off, we just delayed it!” Marinette snaps. 

“Stop reading those,” Adrien murmurs, rubbing soothing strokes into her back. “You know they just upset you.” 

“Do you have any ideas to distract me?” 

“Mm.” He presses a lingering kiss to her shoulder. “I’m sure I can think of something.” 

* * *

The passage of a week brings what should have been their wedding day. Instead it finds them in a lawyer's office. 

Emilie Agreste has been declared legally dead. (It turns out that glass coffin was exactly that - a coffin. Although Adrien had clearly been hoping she was just in some kind of magically induced coma, the only thing that the magic was preserving was her body.) And that means legal repercussions. 

Like dealing with her estate. 

Mr Leblanc, who drafted her will, had called Adrien here to discuss his inheritance. And when Adrien asked her to come with him, of course she agreed. 

Marinette sits beside him, holding his hand and feeling completely out of place while Mr Leblanc goes through the numerous and substantial bequests his mother made to Adrien in her will. 

"What about the asset freeze?" Adrien asks. 

"That only impacts your parents' joint assets, which won't affect you anyway as they are to pass to your father." 

"Oh," Adrien says quietly. 

"When will Adrien get his...bequests?" Marinette asks awkwardly. 

"As Mme Agreste's longtime attorney, I was personally appointed to administer the estate," he answers. "We're beginning that process now but given the size of the estate it will take a few months to begin distribution." 

"How many months?" Adrien asks as Marinette tries to mentally calculate when their money will run out. With the wedding delayed until they can be sure they won't be ambushed in the middle of it, not to mention the money lost on the cancellations, that's a concern. 

"Going to put the money towards an elaborate wedding?" Mr Leblanc asks, chuckling. 

"Rent," Adrien admits. 

Mr Leblanc's eyebrows lift. "Just how expensive is your apartment?" 

"It's not," Marinette says defensively. "It's just that all of Adrien's modeling money from before he turned eighteen is tied up in trusts!" 

His eyebrows go even higher at that. He clears his throat. "I'm not sure where that idea came from, but I assure you it's not possible. There is no such thing as a trust in French law." 

"What? But Nathalie said—" Adrien blurts before breaking off. His face shutters and Marinette squeezes his hand, heart breaking for him. 

Another lie. Of course. 

"So what happened to his money then?" 

"I imagine it was paid directly into an account in his name. We can help you locate all of your assets, Mr Agreste." 

"Yes, please," he mumbles. 

"Wait," she says as the thought occurs to her. "What about Adrien's grandmother's trust then? He's supposed to get some money when he marries?" 

Adrien nods. "That's real, I know it is. I get statements about it." 

"Your grandmother was British, wasn't she?" 

"Yes." 

"Well that explains it. There are exceptions for foreign trusts." Mr Leblanc looks considering for a moment. "You're the sole beneficiary?" 

"Yes." 

"You may not be interested in this given your marriage plans, but under English law, a trust can be terminated and the assets distributed at the direction of the beneficiaries, provided they’re adults with capacity,” he says. “We have a London office that could assist with that if you like.” 

“Oh,” he says looking as surprised as Marinette feels. 

Her brain feels like a non-responsive browser as she attempts to process all of this and what it means for them and their future. She tunes out the rest of the discussion regarding options and taxes, timelines and next steps, recommendations of accountants and financial planners, as her head is filled with only one thought: 

_None of this was necessary._

* * *

Adrien opens up the umbrella as they step out of the lawyer's office and into the street. He keeps an arm around Marinette's shoulders as he angles the umbrella carefully to ensure she doesn't get caught at all by the summer storm. 

"So we don't need to get married," Marinette says. 

"Oh," he says, coming to a stop. He feels stupid. That hadn't even occurred to him, but she's right. The only reason she agreed to marry him was so he could access his money and that's no longer necessary. "Um, I guess not." 

She twists out from under his arm and stares up at him. 

They stand there without saying anything for several long moments while the rain pelts down all around them, filling the silence between them. 

"You probably want this back then. Here," she says, pressing something into his hand. He doesn't need to look to know it's her engagement ring, but he does anyway. 

"Keep it," he tells her, pushing it back to her. "I bought it for you." 

"It's an engagement ring," she says flatly. 

"So?" 

"We're not engaged." 

He's quiet while he tries to process what he's feeling and get his thoughts in order. 

He really, really doesn't want to accept that ring back. 

It's stupid. He knows she loves him. What they have now is real. 

It's only been a week since they confessed and became a real couple. 

They have no business being engaged when it's no longer necessary. 

So why does it feel like accepting that ring back means losing her? 

"I want you to have it." 

She sighs. "You've been through a lot recently and - and you have your freedom now but there's still the media attention and the trial and..." she bites her lip. "I think you need to take some time to process before making any big decisions. You can give it back to me when you're ready." 

"I've been in love with you practically since the day we met. I want to be with you. Nothing is going to change that." Adrien swallows. "And... maybe I got a little too invested in the idea of us getting married." 

Was that too much? He's filled with relief when her lips curl into a smile. 

"Maybe I just want a real proposal." 

Is she teasing or...? 

Heart beating wildly in his chest, Adrien accepts the ring, then slips it into the inner pocket of his jacket for safekeeping. 

It's crazy. 

She's probably just teasing him and he's probably being ridiculous. 

And yet... 

He's been cautious for so long out of fear and it cost them years where they could have been irrepressibly happy together. 

He's not going to make that mistake again. 

* * *

Marinette and Adrien walk along the beach, sand sticking to their wet, bare feet after their ocean swim. 

It’s the most relaxed she’s ever been in her life. 

She tries not to think about how weird and naked the hand that's clasped in his still feels. 

When Adrien had suggested a short getaway from Paris and especially their current notoriety before the start of the semester, there was nothing stopping her from saying no. No more akumas, no more amoks, no more need for Ladybug and Chat Noir. 

For the first time in five years, her shoulders feel light. 

She didn’t put up an argument when he said he wanted to treat her - there didn’t seem to be any point when she’s already contributing what she can to living expenses and he finally has access to _his_ money, the money he earned with his childhood labour, with the security of millions more in inheritance coming his way. 

If he wants to spend his money on a nice apartment right by Playa la Malagueta, she’s not going to say no. 

They slip their sandals on, gritty sand rubbing between her feet and the soles, before crossing the street to their place. 

“Shower?” he asks, eyes intent on hers when their door closes behind them. 

“Shower? Or _shower?_ ” she teases, running her finger up his bare chest, touching sun-warmed skin where his shirt hangs open. 

He kisses her, pressing her back into the door, mouth warm and insistent and _warm_ before he pulls back and murmurs. “Let’s see where things take us.” 

* * *

It turns out that by “shower” he meant “tease you within an inch of your life and then leave to get ready for dinner.” 

She'd lingered in the shower after he got out, trying to calm down, but it didn't help. 

Her boyfriend is the meanest, Marinette decides as she towel-dries her hair, still feeling worked up and a little rejected. 

She expected it to take more than two weeks for him to want to resist her! 

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asks. 

“Yeah,” she sighs. She’s being sensitive. It’s silly. She knows he loves her. He just doesn’t want to be late for dinner. It’s not his fault she doesn’t care as much about being on time. Even if the whole point of vacation is supposed to be making your own schedule. “Do you know where we’re going tonight?” 

Her kwami gives a little shrug. 

“Right.” 

Marinette blowdries her hair and then sweeps it up into a bun. It’s much too hot and humid to do anything else with it. 

She pulls on her favourite pink sundress. 

Then, wanting a little revenge on him for being so attractive and leaving her wanting earlier, she puts on a little make up, doing what she can to try to make her eyes look sultry and her lips look kissable. She’s not entirely sure she succeeds since she doesn’t wear make up very often, but she thinks she looks pretty at least. 

“Okay, I’m read—” she says, stepping out of their bedroom, then trails off, finishing “—y” in a quieter voice as she takes in the scene before her. 

The balcony doors are open wide, and the little table out there is set, all ready for them with two glasses of wine as well as the bottle. Adrien emerges from the kitchen, wearing a white linen shirt that only shows off his gorgeous tan skin, the sight of which makes her mouth go dry. He looks so distractingly delicious that she almost misses the two plates of food he’s holding. A cross-breeze blows in from the balcony and that’s when the smell hits her. 

“Did you make mapo tofu?” she asks. 

“Sabine said it was one of your favourites.” 

“It is,” she says. “I just didn’t realize we were staying in tonight.” 

“Oh. I mean, we can go out if you want to. I know you like to eat local food. But I thought, maybe, just tonight...we could stay in? The view from the balcony is really nice.” 

“Okay,” she says, following him out. He seems...nervous? He can’t think she would make a big deal about going out to eat, can he? 

She looks at Tikki and then at Plagg to see if either of them will clue her in, but Tikki only smiles at her while Plagg grins and winks before they disappear into the kitchen instead of following them out. 

They're not going to join them? 

That’s weird too. 

He sets the plates on the table and then jumps around her to pull out her chair. She giggles at the unexpected formality of it. It’s just them. What’s with him? He’s been acting strange since the shower. But she sits without saying anything. 

He reaches under the table and fiddles for a second before music starts drifting up, soft instrumental pieces that make her think of high class restaurants, before taking his seat across from her. 

“Um...cheers to our first real vacation?” he offers, lifting his glass. 

“Cheers,” she echoes, clinking their glasses together. 

His eyes don’t leave hers as they both take a sip of their wine, and he keeps looking at her as he places his wine down, and looks at her still as he takes her hand in his own. 

“Thanks for coming here with me, my lady,” he husks. 

That voice _does things_ to her. But she doesn’t want to let on, especially after earlier. 

She forces a light laugh. “It wasn’t exactly a hardship.” 

“Still, I’m glad you’re here.” 

“Me too.” 

She thinks he's going to say something else, but he doesn't. He let's go of her hand and turns to his food. With a mental shrug, she digs in. 

"This is really good," she says after her first bite. "You made it spicier this time." 

"Heh, yeah." 

"Maybe you're developing a taste for it." 

He smiles in response but doesn't say anything else to move the conversation along. 

She tries again. "So what was the rush earlier? I thought maybe you had made a reservation or something. I mean, not that I don't appreciate a home cooked meal but it's not usually the kind of thing you can be late for." 

"Oh, um, I just wanted to surprise you." 

"Oh, okay." 

The conversation fades into silence again, nothing but the sounds of the street and the beach and the music speakers beneath their table. 

She eats her food while she considers him. He's being so quiet, this isn't like him. He looks a little flush and his skin had felt awfully warm. Maybe too much sun today? 

Now she feels guilty for being upset earlier. 

"We can go to bed early if you're not feeling well," she offers. 

He shakes his head. "No, no, I'm fine!" 

"Okay..." She's not convinced. 

They fall into silence yet again. 

She's not quite finished eating when the music changes and she hears the familiar guitar chords start up. 

Adrien swallows, adam’s apple bobbing visibly, and then he stands. He offers her his hand. 

"Dance with me, my lady?" he asks. "It's our song." 

She smiles slowly and places her hand in his, let's him help her up and into his arms, as he guides them in a gentle sway. 

"Do you remember when you asked me about where I'd want to travel?" he murmurs in her ear. His breath ghosts over the shell of her ear and down her neck, leaving goosebumps in its wake. 

"I - kind of?" she admits. She'd just been making conversation and hadn't given it much thought. 

"I said I wouldn't mind traveling with you. But that was a lie." He kisses her softly just behind her ear and she shivers. "I don't need to go see the world because I've got my world right here in my arms right now." 

"Aw," she says, flattered. "You say the sweetest things." 

His hand travels up from her waist to draw vague patterns on her lower back, then up higher still, to the bare skin of her upper back. His fingers leave tingles in their wake. 

"I would be lucky to get to travel to different places with you and luckier still to travel through life at your side because - because since I met you that's where I've been happiest." 

He pulls back so that he can look at her face. His eyes on hers are tender and she feels like she's melting with the brightness of the love shining in them. 

"I love you so much," he continues. "I think you're amazing and brilliant and kind and strong and wonderful. I told you once in an airport that I wanted to be with you forever and I meant it. And now there's no rush, no deadline, no pressure, nothing pushing us together but our love for each other." 

He takes a deep breath and then holds his right hand up between them. 

And there, pinched between his fingers, is her ring. 

She gasps and tears spring to her eyes. 

"And if it's too soon for you and you're not ready yet that's okay. Like I said there's no rush. We don't need to race to plan a wedding now. We can take our time and wait until we graduate. And you can have the wedding you always wanted." 

He takes her left hand with his, brings it up between their bodies, positions the ring so he just needs to slide it forward and it will be back on her finger where it belongs. 

"So...Marinette, my lady, bugaboo, love of my life...will you marry me?" 

The tears spill over and she smiles so big it hurts her cheeks. 

"Yes, yes, of course I will!" 

The ring is barely on her finger before she wraps her newly adorned hand around the back of his neck and pulls him down into an enthusiastic kiss. 

~Fin~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I thought about doing another scene after that with the wedding 4 years down the road after they're finished school. But it would have basically just been fluff and the chapter was already ten-friggin'-thousand words, so I decided that was overkill. I might write it as a little coda later if I get inspired, but for now I consider this fic complete!
> 
> And now that it's finished, I'm going to get working on one of the 15 other bunnies I have saved in my Google docs.
> 
> I would love to hear from you if you enjoyed this!! Or come squeal with me about these two lovable idiots over on [tumblr](https://jennagrinsoverml.tumblr.com/)!!


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